Someday
by CattyCat
Summary: COMPLETE: Jessica Mastriani left Indiana. Now, she's being forced to go back, but there's something that she left hidden from her family. It could get her hurt, or worse... JessSuze Crossover mainly Jess.
1. The Beginning

**A.N.: Okay, I know that this is just _another_ story added on to the two I already have. It's definitely going to take me even longer to update all of these stories as often as I would like. Now, this story takes starts about five years after **_Sanctuary_**. This is a _radical_ story and is just something that came into my head. This story also happens to be a crossover between Jess and Suze. If you don't like things that are radical and different from the story, then I suggest that you don't read this story. This story also is entirely in Jess's POV in case you were wondering.**

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Someday**

**The Beginning**

"So, we were thinking about having a family night sometime in the near future. Is that alright, Jess?" Suze's mom, Helen Ackerman was asking me as we sat down at dinner that night. Everyone was there of course. When I had first been accepted into the Ackerman family, they were so detached from each other. Now, they had never been closer.

"Of course. Nina, what do you think?" Nina was my nickname for Susannah de Silva. She is my best friend. She has been for about four years now. We had contacted each other through email and when I was in a spot of trouble, she was right there for me. She got married to Jesse de Silva about two years ago. Even when I was just a pen pal to her she was so in love with him. They have what most people can only dream of, including me. She calls me Jay for obvious reasons. I remember getting Nina from the last part of her name being 'nah' so I thought that I could add a 'nee' before it to get Nina. Get it? I have a twisted sense of things sometimes.

Her three stepbrothers were at dinner that night. Jake and Brad both moved out, but stayed in Carmel, California. They both weren't dating anyone or anything. I think that Jake has a thing for Nina's friend Gina from New York, but I don't have any proof. Brad had actually hit on me when I first moved to Carmel, but he soon saw that I only had eyes for one and that was lost already. What can I say; I'm a hopeless romantic. Her youngest stepbrother, David, was in his senior year at the Mission and he is planning on attending a college nearby when he graduates. He wants to stay close, he could be like Mike and went to Harvard or Yale, but he didn't want to leave everyone here. How cute?

"Sure, me and Jesse will be there, when will it be?"

Suze's stepfather, Andy, looked at Helen and said, "We haven't decided yet, but we'll let you know. Did you guys have fun at the beach today?"

When he said 'you guys' he meant Kat and me. We had gone to the beach for a little mother-daughter bonding time. Yes, I have a daughter and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Her full name is Kathleen Marie Wilkins, but if you call her Kathleen she has a little tantrum. She's a smart little girl. Kat is now one and a half and growing more every day.

I guess you could say that I didn't bring the Ackerman/ de Silva family together. Kat did. She was so innocent and sweet that everyone in the family wanted her as their own. Her uncles dote upon her at each second that they can as well as her second grandparents. She doesn't know about anyone in Indiana. I haven't been back there since I was pregnant. She calls Helen and Andy Grandma and Grandpa. They are just about the best she could have. They have been so great to both of us.

"Yes, we had loads of fun. Kat has fun building sandcastles on the beach. Didn't you sweetie?" I leaned over to her and wiped some of her food off her mouth with her bib.

Jesse and David were having an intellectual conversation. Jesse was still in school to become a doctor. He wanted to be a pediatrician, you know someone who works with kids. Nina and I didn't have to go to school considering we already had a job set out for us before we graduated.

Jake and Brad were talking about surfing. They had been surfing today while me and Kat were playing in the sand. Actually, they had played with us for a while, at least until they saw some hot chicks looking at them. They had left us to go surfing again in order to impress them. I don't think that they were as impressed with the surfing as they were with the way they treated my daughter. I wasn't about to tell them that though.

Just then my cell phone rang. I excused myself from the table before I answered it. When I first got my phone, Andy wouldn't like me getting away from the table, but now he sees that I really do need to answer the phone. It's not like I want to, it's for my job.

"Mastriani," I answered when I got out of the room. As soon as I picked up though, Nina had followed me into the living room. I didn't mind considering we were partners and all.

"We have a new assignment for you." They didn't even bother to say hello, not that they ever did say hello or even their name before getting right to the point.

"Where, what, and who?' You see; I'm an FBI agent. I have been ever since I moved out to Carmel. Nina and I both had decided beforehand what we wanted to do. That's how we met online. We work as special agents for special cases. That means that we specialize in the supernatural sort of like Mulder and Scully except not so creepy and we end up using our guns more often.

That's another thing, the guns. Helen didn't really want guns at first. Actually, she was opposed to the idea where she wouldn't allow us in the house with them. She doesn't mind anymore. Don't really know what changed her mind actually.

"We need you to go back to Indiana. To your hometown. There seems to be a problem over there right now." I paled. I haven't been back there in years. I didn't think I was ready.

Nina took the phone from me and said, "We'll be there, no problem."

**A.N.: Okay, so how's my third story? This is just an intro. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Just please tell me how you like it.**


	2. Story Time

**A.N.: Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate them. This chapter is dedicated to **heidigirl** for being the first reviewer to the last chapter.**

**Reviews:**

heidigirl: **I'm glad you're intrigued. And you made me laugh with your little spelling errors thingies. Thanks bunches.**

kittykatangel518**: You'll find out what happened between Rob and Jess at some point, not yet I think. I'm pretty much coming up with the story off the top of my head, so specific chapters would be difficult to say. I'm not going to say anything more than that. Only because I don't want to ruin the surprise!**

Devorah**: Thanks so much for liking my crossover. This one is pretty much based on Jess just with a little Suze in there every once in a while.**

Acidic-Lover**: Yes, Rob is Kat's father as to why her name is Kathleen Marie _Wilkins_. Hehehe.**

alyssa**: Thanks for liking my plot line. I like coming up with original things.**

Anywien**: Just a question: When you said another one, did you mean another story by me, or another 1-800 fic? Just wondering. It confizzled me. I'm kinda slow like that. **

nikki007**: I never watch the TV show. I think they ruined the books by making it. That's only my opinion, don't hold me against it please. My ideas come totally from the books and my head.**

molz**: Yes, I would also like to see where this leads. I have thought it out until about the middle, but I haven't figured out an ending yet. Oh, well.**

PrudencePiperHalliwell**: Hi Nikki! Thanks for the update. You are totally awesome and I'm not saying that to everyone else because I love ya. You are like my favorite reviewer ever.**

crayon tastes like purple**: Thanks so much for the review. I like the plot as well, but I have no idea where this story is going as of yet.**

**Story Time**

I was in so much shock that I vaguely heard Nina talking on the phone and then guiding me back into the kitchen.

I was mumbling things like, "I'm not ready" and "I can't do this" as Nina guided me back into the dining room where everyone was still having dinner.

"Suze, what's wrong with her?" I heard somebody ask, I couldn't even grasp the voice to recognize who it was.

Nina led me back to my seat and helped me sit down. I was still unfocused and I couldn't seem to concentrate on anything on anything other than my thoughts about Indiana and going back there. I became more attentive when David put Kat in my arms. There is no way I could ever not be focused when my beautiful daughter was in my lap and playing with my hands.

Nina was explaining the situation to _our_ family. They all looked at me with sympathy and pity. I hate pity. David made a suggestion, "Why don't we go with you, you know, for support and all?" The dullness that had been in everyone's eyes, with the exception of Kat of course, suddenly got brighter at those words.

Jesse looked at us as if he was asking for our permission. I looked at Nina and we started talking in French. **(A.N.: I don't know French, so it will be in English. Just pretend it's in French.)** We only talked in French when we didn't want anyone to hear what we were saying. If we wanted to have a pointed conversation with Jesse, we would talk in Spanish. He had taught us a while ago.

"_What do you think?" _Nina asked me. I took a look around the table and my eyes landed on Kat who was still trying to get me to play with her.

"_I don't know. I guess it would be a good idea to have them with us."_ I answered. _"I don't want to see them again. You know that, but if I have to, then I want all of you with me."_

"_Are you sure Jay?"_

I nodded and turned towards all of them as I said, "That would be a great idea."

Helen asked, "So, what can you tell us about your family before we meet them? You never did tell us anything about them."

I sighed and said, "I guess you're right."

Nina looked at me skeptically and said, "Are you okay with all this?" She knew me too well. I really didn't know if I could handle it or not, but I still nodded.

"Let's see, where should I start. I guess with my mother. She pretty much lived in a dream world. When she was in high school she was everything I wasn't, you know, the prom queen popular type person. When I was in school, she wanted me to be exactly like that, but I wasn't anything like her. My father." I gave a little smile as I was remembering everything that I hadn't thought about in years. "He was the person that me or my brothers would go to if we had a problem. He was a down to earth kind of guy. My eldest brother, Doug was schizophrenic. My mom always would say he couldn't do anything because he was sick, but my dad always said that he could. He was my favorite brother if I do say so now. I always stuck up for him in school when people called him names and such." I sighed remembering Doug. I missed him so much; the only thing I ever regret about leaving was leaving him and never seeing him. "My other brother, Mike was different. He was a computer nerd and liked the girl a few houses down. He actually got accepted to Harvard at one point, but he declined to be with her. That's my family." I sighed again and closed my eyes as I took a few deep breaths. I don't think that they believed it, well; I did have a very interesting family. But of course, they weren't my family anymore.

Everyone was staring at me, well except for Nina for she already knew all of this. Brad took a little breath as if preparing for my response, "What about Kat's father? You said at one point you were pretty close to him."

I looked down at Kat and brushed some of the hair out of her eyes as I answered, "We were very close. I met him in detention when I was sixteen. We went out on a date, but he didn't know I was sixteen and he was on probation. He told me he couldn't see me, but he helped me a lot when the Feds were after me and I found out about my powers. We eventually started going out, and we were happy. But then, I got pregnant and left. That's it, end of story."

That's all I was going to tell my family, but I knew that Nina knew I wasn't telling the whole truth.

After that, everyone gave me looks of pity that I didn't like. I hate pity. I looked down and finally started playing with Kat as everyone else talked on. Nina gave my hand a squeeze before she turned to Jesse.

Nina got on the phone and talked to our FBI travel agent for the time we could go. Our flight was in two days, so we had a little bit of time.

**A.N.: Okay. So how was it? I know it's not that long, but I didn't know what else to put. I'm going to offer this for this story too: If you want me to email you about how I'm doing writing this story, then email me **_mch419 at aol. com _**at or IM me at **_mch419_** please don't put your email address in a review because i don't get the adress after the at sign.**

**I need suggestions too. If you have any, then please tell me.**


	3. It's A Plane Day

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Acidic-Lover** for being the first reviewer to my last chapter. I was kind of upset with the amount of reviews I got though. I thought I would get more. Oh well. And I would like to specifically thank **Acidic-Lover, Anywien, heidigirl**, and** nikki007** for being the only people to have reviewed to both my chapters.**

Acidic-Lover**: It's okay; you had to be reading very carefully for it. Thanks so much.**

Anywien**: Thanks so much for the review and I will try to update this as well as Loose Ends as fast as I can. I promise.**

heidigirl**: Rob. Yes Rob. I don't know when Rob goodness will happen, but whatever.**

nikki007**: You'll find out why she left Rob. It will be soon, I can't guarantee a time, but soon enough. And I thought that if they wanted to be really good friends that they should have nicknames for each other. It was sort of hard to find some, but eventually I picked those.**

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Someday**

**It's A Plane Day**

_Two Days Later_

We had about four hours until our flight took off to Indiana. At that specific moment I was in my room doing the finishing touches of packing our suitcases. By 'our' I mean Kat's and mine. We were supposed to be leaving for the airport now considering it takes about an hour to get there and a few hours through security. I of course was holding everyone up.

Over the last two days all I could think about was seeing everyone that I hadn't seen again. I heard my bedroom door open and then close silently. "Jay, are you sure you're up to this? I could always go alone you know."

I turned to her and looked her in the eyes and said forcefully, "Nina, I'm fine." I took a deep breath before I said more to myself then her, "I can do this."

Nina reached down and took Kat from the playpen on the side of my bed before she told me, "It's time to go then. We need to leave now. I'll send Sleepy up for your bags." She left the room to find her stepbrother.

He came in a few minutes later. It's too bad that he's hot. I mean I only had the eyes for one guy for a few years now, but that didn't mean I couldn't look at hot guys. Actually, both Jake and Brad had a crush on me when I first came to Carmel. Jake kind of got over those crushes after they found out I was pregnant though. Evidently he can't handle responsibility. Actually, if it weren't for Kat, I wouldn't be able to handle any kind of responsibility either. But Brad, well, he's another story altogether.

"Are these them?" He was gesturing towards the bags resting on my newly made bed.

I nodded before following him downstairs to the living room.

"There you are. We've been waiting for you for a half an hour." Andy had a joking tone as he said this. I could tell he wasn't angry about having to wait for me though.

I sighed, "Let's just go."

We were all piling into two of the cars. We had so many bags and there was nine of us. Cee Cee and Adam McTavish were coming with us so they could drive the cars back to the house later. Yes, Cee Cee and Adam got married. When I moved to Carmel they were sweethearts and eventually got married about two years after graduation. They had a wedding on the beach at sunset on New Years' Day. It was so sweet.

Well, anyway, I wasn't going in the car with the others. I left Kat in the trusty hands of Nina and Jesse while I rode on my bike. That's right, I finally did get a bike. I decided that it probably wasn't the best idea to ride a bike when I was pregnant with Kat, so after she was old enough to not need me every second of the day I bought one. I even went to a shop and asked one of the guys there to tune it for me and let me tell you, that thing sounded like a kitten purring.

I started my bike before I turned back to the guys and said, "Okay, whose turn is it this time?"

"It's mine." Brad said. Nina's stepbrothers wanted to take turns riding on my bike, but there was no way in hell I was leaving my bike in the hands of those boys. So, Jesse being the smart ass that he is suggested that I give them rides on my bike instead of them riding alone. Now the only time they wanted to go anywhere with me was when I told them they could come with me.

That started an argument really quickly though.

Jesse got in the middle of it and broke it up. He had Kat in his arms and he got in the middle of the three arguing men who looked about to fight with each other. I admit I was amused at the sight, but their head on head bickering almost always amuses me. They can be worse than little girls; I swear it. Jesse having Kat wasn't all that big of a deal because everyone knew that Jesse was almost as much of Kat's father as I was her mother. Jesse and me would never ever think of each other _that_ kind of way, but he loved Kat as much as a father loved a daughter, and I wasn't about to take that away. At least, until he had a kid of his own some day.

I ended up having David on the back of the bike for an hour. I have to say that it was better than having Brad though. Brad always ends up reaching a little higher than I would like if you know what I mean when he has his arms around my waist. And where I said that Jake got over his little crush, Brad really didn't. Alas where the other story came in. Let's just say that he wasn't the smartest fish in the sea.

I had already given warning to the airport saying that I was bringing my bike on us with the flight. There was no way I was going to Indiana without it.

The plane seated three people in each row, so we had Kat sit next to the window with me in between her and Nina. In front of us, Jesse was sitting in front of Nina while David sat in front of me, and Jake next to him. Brad, Helen, and Andy were sitting in front of them. **(A.N.: Is that confusing at all? It helps if you try to draw it.)** When the little light saying we could undo our seatbelts went off I put Kat in my lap and was playing with her. I had to move where Kat was sitting before though because Nina wanted to sit next to her husband. I didn't mind considering all I was doing was cooing over my precious baby.

We arrived in Indiana at about 4:30. We still had about a forty-five minute ride into my hometown. I was on my bike, this time with Jake on the back and was leading the van with everyone else towards my old house and hometown as well as all the people I had left behind.

On the way to get some food we made a little pit stop.

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A.N.: Okay, so I did a little cliffy. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. And I really need some ideas for this story or I might have to stop it before it's done. And do you think I could get any more than four reviews for this chapter? I'm not saying I didn't appreciate them, I'm just asking for more. And just so you know, I'm not updating Loose Ends until I get two more reviews. I want 100 reviews before I update that story. **


	4. Long Time, No see

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated, once again, to **Acidic-Lover** for being the first reviewer to my last chapter. Some people did guess as to where the pit stop was to and nobody was right. Oh well. I would like to say a special thank you to my reviewers who have reviewed to every chapter: **Acidic-Lover, Anywien, and nikki007.

Acidic-Lover**: You'll find out where the pit stop is and thanks so much for the review.**

Quietly Losing Control**: I like keeping my readers in suspense. But, Jess will meet everyone in this chapter as well as the next and maybe so more into the one after that. So it will take me about three chapters to get her to meet everyone.**

Molz**: Where'd you get Dunkin' Donuts from? I would say more, but you didn't give me much to comment on.**

Anywien**: Yeah that's why I said that drawing it out might help. That's what I did when I was writing. I suck? Sorry I made you wait, but it takes me a little while to write these chapters. And it would count; I wouldn't care.**

moovalous3**: No, you never reviewed to this story. Yeah, there was no way that Jess would have no gotten a bike.**

Bigcats234**: Thanks so much for the review.**

nikki007**: There will never be any Brad and Jess in this story. I was just saying about Brad's little crush. It will never go anywhere, I promise you that.**

madmaddy**: Yeah, they would definitely argue over that. And if you're annoyed about me not saying about what happened between Jess and Rob then you'll have to be annoyed for a while longer because I'm not ready to disclose that information.**

Nikita1506**: I know you want more and so I will give it to you!**

nikkibakamoviebuff**: It's hard considering a lot of people are telling me I need to go faster while others are saying slower or that I'm doing it just fine. And I really did want to rush the plane scene because I wanted to get to Jess meeting everyone.**

KatieKat19**: Thanks so much for the sympathy and compliments. And your guess is wrong, sorry. Read on.**

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Long Time, No See**

We stopped in a parking lot on the outskirts of town. Everyone stepped out of the van and I heard Andy ask, 'Where are we?"

"An old hang out of mine." I answered as I stepped closer to the entrance of Chick's Bar and Grill. "Jesse, can you just keep Kat for a little while?"

"Of course, Jessica." Damn, why can't he just call me Jess like everyone else.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the dimly lit room. I looked around and saw some people sitting down a few booths away having a good time as well as a heavy man standing behind the counter.

"Hey, you kids can't be in here." The large guy at the counter said pointedly at David and Kat. But that statement seemed to attract the attention of almost all of the people in there.

"Aw, come on Chick. Let them stay. I promise they'll be good." I took a few steps closer to him so he could see me better.

His eyebrows went way up. "Do I know you?" The other guys in the bar looked a little curious as to who I was as well as the people with me.

I pretended to cry and said, "Chick, I can't believe you don't remember me. Me, your favorite person in the whole wide world."

He stepped out from behind the counter and waddled closer to us. I looked up into his eyes when he was right in front of me and he said, "It's good to see you again little lady."

I gave him a big hug before asking for a round of Coke's and a glass of apple juice for Kat.

I turned back to everyone and they were looking at me with questions in their eyes. "I'll answer your questions later. Let's just have some fun now."

I noticed two people looking our way and yelled over the music, "Hey, Wendell, Wylie, get your lazy asses over here."

To say they looked surprised would be an understatement. They slowly got up and took the five steps over to us. "Who the hell are you and how do you know our names?"

"You to. Oh my God, how many people forgot me here." I looked at them straight in the eyes and punched them each in the gut. Not hard, I swear.

"Jessica, what do you think you're doing?" Helen didn't like it. She looked frantic. I swear, I thought she was going to have a heart attack. On the other hand, everyone else looked amused.

Wendell answered for me and said in a strangled voice, "Don't worry about it ma'am. You're obviously not from around here."

"Mastriani, have you gone light these past few years. You punch like a girl." Wylie was obviously trying to make a joke, but it didn't seem that funny to me. Although, Jake, Brad, and David found it hilarious.

Instead of beating him to a bloody pulp I just laughed and gave them big hugs. I then proceeded to make introductions before going to the table where they came from.

"I see some things never change. You guys are still here." I nodded to them all and sat in Wylie's lap.

Wendell obviously didn't like this arrangement considering he decided to pick me up and put me in his lap. Which, incidentally, started a full out 'I want Jess' war.

One of the other guys at the table asked, "Who's the kid?"

I was laughing so hard that Nina had to answer for me, "She's Jay's. Her name's Kat."

"Did you ever get married?" Wylie asked. Evidently they had grown up since I had last seen them.

I shook my head.

"I figured you wouldn't. Wilkins was just too much for you huh?" I really didn't feel like hearing his name right then.

"Shut up."

"Anyway, if you're not married, then who's her dad?" Wendell had his eyebrows raised. I should have told them before I left, but I didn't think about it before I left.

"I'll tell you this: Her full name is Kathleen Marie Wilkins if that gives you any hints."

Wendell and Wylie looked from me to her and back and force until Wendell reached over and picked her out of Jesse's arms and said, "Well hello little one. I'm your Uncle Hank. Oh, you are so cute."

"So anyway, what are you doing in Indiana? You left off a while ago and haven't been seen or heard from since." Wylie asked while Wendell was still cooing over my darling baby girl.

"I'm here on official business, not personal."

"What do you mean by official?" They all sounded interested. What can I say? I guess I'm just an interesting gal.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my badge and I opened it up so they could see.

"Mastriani I can't believe you! You work for the freakin' FBI? What the-"

"Hey watch the language in front of my kid."

One of the other guys sitting around said, "I never would've pegged you for one of them."

I shrugged uncomfortably and said, "Things change."

Just then Wylie yelled across the room and said, "Wilkins, get you're a-s-s over here." Well, at least he was watching his language. But it was the name that put the Goosebumps on my arms and the tingle down my spine. I could practically feel him walking closer.

I turned towards the family and said, "We should go." I grabbed Kat from Wylie and stood up only to find that my nose was practically touching Rob's chest.

"Jess..."

**A.N.: How about them apples? Anyway, I updated and I thank everyone for the reviews. They were awesome and this is my second update today. Now, that is awesome.**


	5. What Are Brothers For?

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Anywien** for being the first reviewer to my last chapter. I would also like to give a special thanks to **Acidic-Lover, Anywien, and nikki007** for being the reviewers who have reviewed to every chapter so far.**

Anywien**: I know you hate cliffies, but that's what makes you want to read my story, right? I hate cliffies too, so it's not just you. It's just so fun.**

kittykatangel518**: Yes, I took your advice and put Rob in there. I actually had a debate with myself about what would happen next, so I hope you like it.**

Molz**: ek? What does ek mean? Whatever, thanks for the review anyway.**

moovalous3**: Your very welcome about the updates being on the same day before. And it's okay that you didn't review before. And you'll find out what happens if you scroll down some more.**

nikki007**: Or else? Or else what? And you'll find out what happens if you keep scrolling.**

Quietly Losing Control**: I hate mornings. I really do. But thanks for the review especially considering you did it at seven in the morning.**

madmaddy**: Thanks so much for saying both my stories are awesome. And I did think that the cliffhanger was awesome as well.**

Acidic-Lover**: Haha, you're review made me laugh. It was seriously the funniest review I've gotten for this chapter. Thanks so much.**

Shayna Sedai**: Thanks for the review. I appreciate it so much.**

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Someday**

**What are brothers for?**

I looked into his pale blue eyes before I looked into Nina's searching green ones. I was really panicking on the inside though. I mean, Rob Wilkins, the guy who I was once in love with, the one who I had a child with, the one who broke my heart, was standing right in front of me.

When I didn't say anything he said, "Jess, look at me. What happened?"

I looked at Kat who happened to be in Jesse's arms right now before saying, "Listen, Rob, you're not a part of my life anymore. You hurt me so much; you really have no right to even be talking to me right now. You broke my heart."

"Jess, I swear-"

"Not anymore Rob. It's too late for apologies."

Nina put a comforting arm around my shoulder before Kat looked at my pained expression and said, "Mommy…"

I put my hands out so Kat could come into my arms and I pulled her into my chest and started stroking her hair. "I have a life now Rob. And you're not a part of it, so if you will excuse us. We have other places to be."

He had an unreadable expression on his face, but his eyes told me everything. They showed the regret, anger, confusion, and deep in there love. I know he still probably loved me, but what he did was unforgivable in my eyes.

We all said a last and final goodbye to everyone and I had to promise that I would come back before I left and then visit and call more.

It was about time for dinner, so we drove over to Mastriani's to have a bite.

We stepped inside and the first thing I said was, "Wow, this place has changed."

We ended up getting a booth in the back that could fit all of us. I ended up sitting next to Kat and David. We had decided that the two married couples would sit on one side when the others would sit on the other side. There was a little argument between the boys over who gets to sit next to me though. Eventually, Andy broke a toothpick in half and put it in with two others whole sized toothpicks and they had to each pick one. The one that got the shorter stick could sit next to me; David got it. Let's just say that Jake and Brad weren't all that happy. I swear they can act like ten year olds sometimes.

Our waitress came over a few minutes later. I wasn't looking up at her because I was tending to Kat. By tending I mean playing. But I had to look up when I heard her say, "Hi, my name's Mary and I'll be your waitress today. Can I start you off with anything?"

Helen was just about to speak when I said, "Hi Mom."

She looked over at me for a few good seconds before she said, "Jessie? Is that really you?"

I nodded and stood up after I handed Kat to David and I gave her a huge hug. "I missed you so much Mom." I pulled away and said, "I want you to meet someone," I leaned down and took Kat from David and held her in front of Mary, "This is your granddaughter, Kat."

"This is the little one? Oh, she's so beautiful, just like her mother. And as much as I would like to sit here and catch up with you Jessie, I have to work. So can I get you guys anything?"

I smiled and said, "Can we have a round of cokes and an apple juice? And also a large, pepperoni pie and a plate of spaghetti for the little one."

"Course. I'll be back soon."

Once Mary had left into the kitchen Helen looked over at me and said, "Who is she?"

"Oh, sorry. I forgot about introductions. That was Mary Wilkins. Rob's mother."

David looked confused, "Why would you call her mom then?"

"Because she was more of a mom to me then my own mother was."

After that we were joking around until Mary came back over. "Jessie, I brought someone over to see you."

I looked up and say Doug standing beside her. I gave Kat to David again before I stood up and jumped him. Doug was whispering soothing words in my ear while stroking my hair and I was crying. It's not like I meant to cry, but my brother was standing right there and I had missed him so much.

"Jess, come on sit down. It's okay now. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." He sat down and pulled me next to him. "Thanks Mary."

"Doug-"

"Shh, everything's fine now. I'm right here." He pulled me off him and looked me in the eye. I know I still had tearstains down my cheeks. He wiped my cheeks with his thumbs and said, "Tell me everything."

I nodded and said, "You know that day that I left and how I was acting weird…"

He nodded and said, "I remember, go on, sweetie."

"That day I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant. I didn't tell anybody. I guess I panicked or something. I went over to Rob's house later that night to tell him. I thought that he should know that he was having a kid, but he…"

Doug was looking at me calm and collected. "You should have told me sweetie. I would have helped in any way I could."

"I'm not done yet. "I told Mom before I went upstairs to Rob's room. I thought that I should tell somebody sooner or later. Anyway, when I got upstairs and opened Rob's bedroom door, he was…" I broke off. I didn't know if I could finish this.

"What happened then sweetie?"

I gave a choked up sob and said, "He was…with somebody else. I rushed out and ran away. I called Nina and she told me I could live with her and her family." I nodded to Nina and everyone else. Before I looked back to Doug, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I freaked."

"It's okay Jess. When you were acting squirrelly at dinner that night I thought that if there was something wrong you would eventually tell me. It did hurt when you left without any word whatsoever. But you're here now and that's all that matters."

Our food had arrived and I made introductions. "Jess, what was it like when Rob did that?"

I hesitated, "I felt like I had meant nothing to him and that I _was_ nothing. But I don't want to talk about that right now."

"Okay, so did you know that Mikey and Claire got married?" I wasn't surprised. "Claire is actually pregnant right now."

"I'm not really surprised. But what about you? I mean, you were with Tasha for a while. Did anything happen?"

He looked down into his empty pizza plate and said, "It didn't work out. I guess we just weren't meant for each other."

"I'm sorry Doug. I know how much you liked her. At least you didn't leave her pregnant though." I was joking. He started laughing. That was the first time I had heard him laugh in years. It felt good to hear it.

All of a sudden Nina paled and said, "Hey Jay, was there a girl who died in this town a while ago?"

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A.N.: So, how was it? I know that some of you are probably questioning Doug's use of the word sweetie, but I only did it because it was a word that would have comforted her. My brothers use it all the time when I get sad or I'm dealing with an emotion that they can't handle. And you guys finally found out what happened between Rob and Jess.****

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-Poll-**

**What do you guys think should happen?**

**1) Jess and Rob should get together and live happily ever after. (BORING)**

**2) Jess dies and Rob has to deal with everything.**

**3) Rob dies and Jess has to regret leaving in the first place.**

**4) Jess goes back to Carmel and leaves Rob behind again. (LEADS TO SEQUEL)**

**5) I skip ahead a few years until Kat is a little older.**

**6) Other, please specify.**

**Thanks so much for the help. I appreciate it so much.**


	6. Daddy Dearest

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Julez** for being the first reviewer to the last chapter. I would also like to thank everyone for all of your feedback. It helped a lot. Although, I will not tell you hat I choose until the end. And I have no idea how long this fic will end up being. **

**I also want to discredit **kittykatangel518** for taking my original idea for this story and creating her own version of it. No offence to anyone who like her story, but it's really not fair that I come up with an awesome and totally original idea and she uses it in a story. That is a low attempt of plagiarism and I won't stand for it. Her story will be deleted either by herself or fanfiction. My friend and I have already started to report her and her story and we will continue to report it until it gets deleted. If you read this then please think of my feelings as a writer before you flame me about this. No writer including yourselves would want their ideas made into a messed up version of your own.**

**Reviewers:**

Julez**: I don't see how they wouldn't be fair to Suze. Yes, Jess dieing wouldn't be fair, but them going back to Carmel would be fair, I think. Thanks for the review though. **

kittykatangel518**: I suggest you don't review to my stories anymore. If you want to copy my ideas then you shouldn't even be aloud to write fanfictions. That wasn't fair to me as a writer. Put yourself in my skin and walk around in it to see how I feel about it. **(Taken a little from _To Kill A Mockingbird)_

Acidic-Lover**: You are correct about the guess. And I thank you for the review. You're an inspiration to me as well.**

Shayna Sedai**: Ha! You are so funny, anyways, thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it a lot.**

nikki007**: Thanks so much for the review and the ideas.**

Ginny Weasley's Double**: Hey, new reviewer. I love new reviewers. And thanks so much for the review and the idea.**

Wayretro**: Yes, killing Jess would be sad. You have some really good ideas, but I don't think that Jess should marry one of Suze's brothers. That would be just gross if you were Suze.**

Anywien**: Your going to Europe? Lucky you. I've never been, but I've always wanted to go to Paris and the city of LOVE. Lol.**

Kittycat**: that last part of your review was so funny. And thank you for the feedback.**

Nikita1506**: Lol, I'm so glad that you're not a bitch to me in reviews. Actually, I haven't had any really bitchy reviews as of yet. I hope I didn't jinx myself right there. And hey, I got a double check? Thanks.**

xcgdg**: That was probably the shortest review that I have ever gotten. But I thank you for the advice.**

Koizak**: You are so funny. Thanks so much for the review and the feedback. I appreciate it.

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**Someday**

**Daddy Dearest**

I kind of understood where Nina got off asking me that. I mean, she was a mediator. Well, her and Jesse. They talk to the dead. I guess it's sort of like my whole finding missing people thing. That's why we get along so well. I nodded and said, "Yes, a girl about…16, I think she was. Amber Mackey, her boyfriend killed her when he found out she was pregnant."

She reached over the table and took me hand and gave it a squeeze. She knew what I went through and how I was scared that I might have been Amber at one point. "Come on."

I took Kat out of my hands and put her in the arms of her Uncle Doug. Of course, he had to stand up to let me pass, but I don't think he minded. Then I followed Suze into the bathroom where there was no one nearby. "She wants to talk to you. Something about our case."

I nodded and Nina passed on some of her power to me. See, after we joined the FBI, Suze picked up a few tricks. One of those tricks included the transferal of power between people. She used it occasionally when someone wanted to talk specifically to me or if the boys' mom, Cynthia, wanted to talk to them.

Then I saw her. She didn't look much different from the last time I had seen her. You know, she still looked 16. The only real difference was that she was slightly larger in the stomach. And I mean slightly. I should know, I mean, I was pregnant. Nina wouldn't be able to notice, but I sure did. And I did know her for practically her whole life. "Jess. It's good to see you again. First of all, I wanted to say thanks for saving Heather and Claire from Mark. I never wanted anybody else to get hurt." She is so sweet. I mean she put them before herself and she never even knew Claire. "And I also for putting Mark in jail where he belongs. I love him, but he did kill me."

"It's fine really. It was no trouble. Now, Nina said you wanted to tell me something."

She nodded. "Well, I wanted to first tell you congratulations on your baby. And I wanted to say that the guy you need to be looking for is extremely dangerous and deals with weapons. Specifically guns."

"Okay, thanks Amber."

Nina looked at her and said, "Did you need help to move on?"

"You know, that would probably be a good idea. I haven't been able to move on in about seven years. Who are you by the way?"

"Suze de Silva. Mediator, at your service." She shook hands with her surprised. Another thing Nina had learned while being in the FBI was helping people move on without having them exorcised.

Nina waved her hand and Amber started to fade. "See you Jess." And she disappeared.

"So, what do you think we should do?" Nina asked me.

"There's nothing that we can do right now. Let's just go back and sit down and enjoy our meal."

We walked back and as we got closer Kat called out, "Mommy." And she rushed out of Doug's arms into my extended ones.

We sat down and talked for a few more minutes. We heard someone say behind us, "Doug? Your mother told me to come over here and tell you to come home."

He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, Dad. I'll be right there."

"Doug, who are these people?" He was suspicious. I could tell.

"Oh, come on Dad. You don't even recognize your own daughter. What a shame." I said it as a joke.

"Jess?"

I nodded. "It's good to see you Dad. It's been a while." I stood up with Kat.

He gave me a hug. Some tears even escaped his eyelids. I guess he missed me. "Jess I missed you so much. Your mother as well. She kept your room exactly the way you left it." He looked at Kat in my arms and said, "And who is this pretty little girl?"

Kat was getting tired. I guess she should be. It was past her bedtime. "Dad, this is your granddaughter Kat."

To say that he looked surprised would be a huge understatement. "M-My granddaughter?"

I nodded and said, "Do you want to hold her?" I started to position her when she made a fuss. She was a little cranky. "Shh, it's okay sweetie."

He admired her for a few minutes before he said, "She's beautiful." He looked around and said, "Who are these people?" Kat was asleep in his arms and I don't think that he had ever noticed.

"They are the people I've been living with for the past few years. This is my best friend, Suze de Silva. Her husband, Jesse. Suze's mom, Helen Ackerman and her husband Andy. And Andy's three sons: Jake, Brad, and David." I pointed them out as I went along.

"It's very nice to meet you. My name is Joe Mastriani. I'm Jess's father as well as the owner of this restaurant."

"It's a very nice restaurant." Helen answered. She was very sweet.

He turned his attention back to me and said, "Jess, can you please come to the house? I'm sure everyone would like to see you."

"Can we do it tomorrow? I really just need some time."

"Of course Jess. Where are you staying?"

"The Hotel Inn near the school. If you call in there you'll be able to find me."

Just as we were stepping through the doorway we passed two people coming in. They both looked familiar, but I couldn't place them. Well, I couldn't place them until the guy turned towards me and said, "Jess? Jess Mastriani?"

I took a good look at the guy and then the girl next to him. "Yeah, Jess Mastriani happens to be my name. Who are you?"

"Todd. Todd Mintz. Don't you remember me?"

Oh, so that's why he looked so familiar. You see, after the whole thing with Mark Leskowski we became friends before I left. We didn't get any further, but that's only because I had Rob and I didn't see Todd in that kind of way. But he was still my friend.

I gave him a one armed hug considering I still had Kat sleeping on my shoulder. "It's good to see you again. What do you do now?"

"Oh, I'm a teacher at the middle school. What about you and why are you back here?"

"I work for the FBI. I'm on assignment."

The girl next to him was starting to get impatient. "Do you have some kind of problem?" I don't normally give an attitude to people, but something told me to be mean to her.

She didn't answer so Todd answered for her, "Jess, don't you remember her? Wow, anyway, this is my wife Karen Sue."

"Wait. You married Karen Sue Hanky? Why would you do something like that?" OH MY GOD!

"Things have changed since you left us all."

"Right and now you're pregnant. Right Karen Sue?"

"How did you know?" She was surprised. I guess nobody had really noticed yet.

"In case you haven't noticed, this is my daughter Kat. I know what it looks like to be pregnant and you look about two or three months along now."

Todd nodded and said, "That's right. So you didn't get married or anything? I mean, you never told why you left."

"Um, no. Oh and by the way, this is my best friend and partner Suze de Silva and her family. Guys this is an old friend of mine, Todd Mintz."

After the chorus of, "Nice to meet you-s," and other such things we talked for a little while.

"So, if Suze is you best friend, what happened with Ruth?"

"We lost contact with each other. Oh, wow, look at the time. It's already ten o'clock. I have to get Kat to bed. I'll see you later. I promise."

We left right after that to go to the motel. They had no hotels in our little town. It's too bad. They could make some real money.

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**A.N.: This is mostly a filler chapter. I just needed a chapter that led to the next few ones. Ha, look at that. Karen Sue was in this chapter and Jess didn't hurt her. Wow. Lol. Thanks for the reviews again. Please review for me. It would make me happy. **


	7. Ryan Clayborne Issues

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **madmaddy** for being the first reviewer to my last chapter. I would also like to give special thanks to **DarkPrincessKate, Anywien, **and** nikki007 **for being dedicated reviewers and reviewing to every chapter so far. I'm sorry for it taking so long for me to update, but I've had to deal with projects in school, details about my birthday party, a psychotic boyfriend (Well, not psychotic. He just acts like it sometimes), my six-month anniversary for me and my boyfriend, and I had writers' block. I knew where I wanted the story to go, but I really couldn't figure out how to get there. –CeeCeeCaffeine: If you're reading this, then that's awesome. I just wanted to let you know that you should review and tell me your ideas because I truly have no idea where I'm going with this story.**

madmaddy**: Thanks so much for the review. I appreciate it.**

Zelina**: Really? I have a future as a writer. I've never heard that one before. Thanks so much.**

moovalous3**: I'll let you decide whether the FBI is doing her any good in those regards. It's your decision. Thanks so much for the review.**

nikki007**: Um, Rob cheated on Jess when Jess came over to tell him she was pregnant. That might jog your memory. Thanks for the review.**

kittykatangel518**: I don't go on MCBC. I think that if people want to write a story, then they should post it on FanFiction. That's just my opinion though.**

DarkPrincessKate**: You changed your name? When I go to do the ending thanks in my stories I'll have to put Acidic-Lover as well as your new name if you don't mind. But if you think that the only reason that Jess didn't hurt Karen Sue was because Jess was holding Kat then that's your opinion. I'm not saying if it's right or wrong.**

Anywien**: Yeah, Todd and Karen Sue might be a little gross, but whatever. Your family is from Ukraine? That's cool. I have a friend from Romania. But I don't know anyone from Ukraine, with the exception of you of course.**

neostar**: Thanks so much for the review. I don't like bringing in new characters because new characters can cloud your judgment of the original ones. But that's just me.**

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Someday

**Ryan Clayborne Issues**

The next day we all spent catching up on the jet lag. It was easier for me and Nina considering we are always going all over the country for work anyway. But, for rest of the Ackerman family, it wasn't too good for them.

We ended up getting bored watching TV. I mean, who would want to watch TV for hours while everyone else was sleeping. So instead of sitting around becoming couch-potatoes, we got on my bike and took a ride.

We were sitting down at Chicks' when we got a call from our superiors telling us to go about an hour away to check out our assignment. We went back to the motel and took the van. Now, I don't like vans. I never have. I would much rather be driving my bike on the highway with no one around and miles to go where I can go as fast as I want. But, Nina was having nothing of it. There was no way she was driving that long on my bike. Which happened to be bad for me because I had to drive a _van_.

The place where we had to go was in a shabby town that my parents would never even allow us to enter. At one point we were on vacation and went through this town, but they wouldn't allow us to stop and go to the bathroom and get some snacks even though we really needed to stop. The town looked like one of those towns that you would see on the movies. You know, the old shabby towns that nobody goes near almost like it has the plague. That was this town.

We stopped at the house that our superiors gave us over the phone. We were here to investigate a man named Ryan Clayborne for using psychic powers to steal from jewelry and money from stores. The normal police force would have taken over the case, but here were two reasons why we got the case. Number one: He had psychic powers, we don't know how many and we don't know what it/ they are and number two: he kidnapped, and killed the last officer that had been assigned to his case. That didn't look to good for us though.

"Hello, Ryan Clayborne? My name is Jess Mastriani and this is my partner Suze de Silva and we're with the FBI. Can you let us in?" Nina and I take turns when we go up to someone's house. She did it last time, so it was my turn this time.

We saw an eye in the peephole as he looked at our badges. We then heard about five different locks being undone before he finally opened the door. He had a high pitched and squeaky voice we noticed as he said, "What can I do for you ladies?" He invited us into his house and we were reluctant to go in, the smell of liquor and urine was high in the room. The décor wasn't all that great either. There were stains over everything and the furniture looked like it was picked up out of the trash. It was kind of pitiful in a way. That someone would actually live like that, I mean.

"We're here to ask you about your involvement in the murder of Lucy Storms. You know, the state police officer who was put on your case about the kidnappings?"

"I-I didn't have anything to do with that." He was visibly shaking. Stature wise, Ryan Clayborne was only about five and a half feet tall and he was a puny wimp muscle wise.

Nina talked before I could, "That's not what the proof says. There are sworn statements as well as forensic proof that you murdered her."

He sat down and put his head in his hands. I didn't know what he was doing and my hand was reaching more towards my gun every second until I heard a sob and saw his whole body shaking.

"I-I'm sorry. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. I didn't kill her though. She did. She didn't want the police to get involved in our business. She did everything. I'm just the psychic." He was talking so fast and unsteadily that it was hard to understand what he was saying.

Nina kneeled down in front of him and said, "Who is she? Who set you up?"

He gave a terrified gasp and pointed towards the door. I turned around and had my gun drawn before Nina even stood up. The woman was about five foot eight and, in my opinion, very beautiful. She had a gun pointed right at me as well though and that's what made me nervous.

"Put the gun down."

She gave a little laugh and said, "I don't think so." She cocked her gun and shot it. Before I knew what had happened, the woman was lying on the floor, if you could call it that, and Nina was calling an ambulance. I still had my gun in my hand, but I slowly put it back in the holster and went over to where Ryan Clayborne was shaking. "We need to talk."

Nina talked to the police and the paramedics before joining our conversation, but by the time that she joined us we were finished talking. Evidently Ryan, or R.J. as he liked to be called, had psychic powers as well. He actually had a rare form of telekinesis in which he could instead of moving things with his mind; he could move people's brain cells and practically anything in the brain of his victim. He was trying to control his power when Margie, the woman, found him and used him for her own personal escapades. Or, in other words, she used him to steal jewelry and money and kidnap people.

We finished talking and told him he would be safe, but he had to contact Cyrus Krantz in order to have some decent training, but we would go see him at some point before we left to make sure he would be fine.

And then we drove another hour back, but there was something that happened to me that I never noticed until later that night…

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**A.N.: So, how did you like it? I know, you guys are mad at me for not updating in so long, right? I'm sorry about that again. But please review and I might not take so long to update.**

**Just a thought before you review: What DID happen to Jess? You'll find out if you give me good reviews.**

**For readers of my other story, _Loose Ends_: I am very upset. I only got a few reviews for that chapter. I'm not updating until I get some more. Especially considering I only have three more chapters for it.**


	8. Wounds

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Zelina** for being the first person to review to my last chapter. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I was in Florida and I just got back. It didn't take me too long did it Nicole? I would also like to give a special thanks to **Anywien** and **nikki007** for being the only people to have reviewed to every chapter. Thanks.**

Zelina:** I'm sorry it's taken me so long. I know that it's a long wait sometimes, but please don't get mad at me for it. I'm trying my best.**

CeeCeeCaffeine:** No one is sane, I'll agree with you there. You amuse me with your reviews. They are so funny. Thanks.**

nikki007: **Thanks so much for the review.**

Ginny Weasley's Double: **Um…no, but that was a good guess. You'll find out when you read more.**

Smiley0925:** As I said before, I'm really sorry it's taken me so long. I hope you can forgive me…**

Anywien:** I know I suck, but you love me anyway. Lol. Yes, you are my only Ukranian friend. Congrats. Lol.**

kittykatangel518:** Thanks Nicole. You're always giving me really great compliments. I'll probably talk to you later. And thanks for the long review. I appreciate it.

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****Someday**

**Wounds**

Nina and I went straight back to the motel after our ordeal. She to see her husband and me to see my daughter. Yeah, I know, it's weird for me to have a daughter. In all actuality, I'm still getting over the shock as well. But everyone has a reason for living, for Nina it's Jesse, and for me it's Kat.

On the hour long drive, Nina called our supervisors to tell them that the problem was solved and we were going home. We both wanted to go but for different reasons. Nina wanted to keep her family safe and I wanted to get away from my hometown and the places I used to know. It wasn't a part of my life anymore and I was letting it all go, again.

When we got back to where the Ackermans' and Jesse were waking up, we told them we were leaving the next day.

David was the one to point out a forgotten fact, "But what about that dinner or party thing we were supposed to go to tonight?"

Damn him and his memory. I didn't want to see anyone of them again. It's easier for me to leave if I don't get too involved with them. And I couldn't let my secret slip, Kat had to be kept a secret for both of our sakes.

All of us pretty much spent the day being bums. With the exception of Nina and Jesse who went into another room if you know what I mean. I personally think they were in the shower right now because I couldn't hear the bed creaking or the sounds. Kat slept until one in the afternoon and when I had first come back, I didn't have the heart to wake her. She was sleeping so peacefully. Normally I can never sleep. Dreams and thoughts terrorize me so I sometimes don't sleep at all. No one knows about that though. I've been doing a pretty good job of hiding everything. Nina who knows practically everything about me doesn't know everything about me.

At about six-thirty, Jesse and Nina finally came out of the room, so while Jesse was playing with Kat, Nina and I set up our departure plans. We left the motel at quarter to six to get to that party dinner type thing my parents had planned. I was unconsciously worrying about whether I would see Rob or not.

As we were walking up the front walk of the house that stirred so many memories, I scooped up Kat into my arms. I needed her for some comfort; she was my lifeline even if she couldn't understand that.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Kat started jumping around in my arms. I guess she was happy to see me even though we spent the all afternoon together. For some reason, when she was jumping, my arm hurt a little. But I just rubbed that off.

"What is it sweetie?"

She squeezed my cheeks together and giggled. "You think that's funny?" She nodded. "Well watch this…" I started tickling her and her laughter was contagious. Pretty soon everyone was laughing with her.

By that time we reached the front door. My finger was about an inch from the bell, but I couldn't ring it. Eventually, Jake stepped forward and pressed it for me. "See, not that hard."

"Sleepy, I doubt that's why she couldn't press it." Nina backed me up when she saw that I wasn't even bothering to listen to him.

He just shrugged as the door opened and my brother's face was staring at me. My dad just happened to walk by a minute later and said, "Mike, who is it?" He then opened the door up a little further to see all of us. "Oh, Jess. Come in. Mike, move out of the doorway to let these people in." My dad left and went into the kitchen.

"It's…good to see you Jess." He looked uncomfortable.

"It's okay Mike. I won't make you stay here. You can just go over to your wife." He nodded and left to go somewhere else in the house.

"Come on. I'll lead you guys around." They all followed me into the living room where there were banners and balloons hanging off the walls saying things like "Welcome Home Jessica."

And that's when I started to tear up. I mean, they were welcoming me back home and I wasn't even going to be staying. I had every reason to break down and cry right then, but I held it in and kept looking around the house and the differences that there were. There was some new furniture and some of the old furniture was moved to different places in the room. Also, there was a shelf of pictures that wasn't there the last time I had been here. I walked over to it and looked at each one of the pictures. They were of me. Evidently my parents- my mother to be precise- created a shrine in honor of me. How sweet.

"Oh, Jessie. You're here. Welcome home. I've missed you so much!" My mom found me. And of course she started crying.

"Mom, I'm not staying. Actually, I'm leaving again tomorrow."

She looked hurt. But there's nothing that I can really do about it.

Eventually, she left to mingle with some more people and the Ackermans' moved on to other people as well. Nina and Jesse left me to get something to eat, so I was left with Kat. But of course everyone in the house was forced- presumably by my mother- into the living room.

I put Kat down on the couch just as the cake was coming my way. It was almost like my birthday, but not exactly considering m birthday is in April.

I blew out the candle and we all ate cake and talked and laughed for about a half an hour. That's when the surprise came. Rob and Mrs. Wilkins walked through the door followed by Gary. "Sorry, are we late?"

Doug smiled slightly and said, "Just a little."

Rob was staring at me. I had my head down, but I could feel his eyes boring into me as I picked Kat up and fed her some cake. Eventually, I gave Kat to Brad and stood up to go into another room. Anywhere would be fine. As long as Rob wasn't there with me it would be perfect.

All of a sudden I felt a pair of arms come around me from behind. I knew those arms, all too well in fact. "Let go of me Rob! I said let go!"

"Jess, stop fighting me for one minute, okay?" He was squeezing tighter to tell me without words that he wasn't letting go until I did as he said. In the background I could hear Kat crying softly.

I stopped moving and Rob took that as my consent to stop fighting him. "Take off your coat."

"Why?" That was interesting. I was expecting him to say we needed to talk or whatever. Not ordering me to take off my coat.

"Just do it Mastriani." And yet, he still calls me Mastriani. Not that I mind, it's just you would think he would call me by my first name after everything we've been through.

I took it off and handed it to him. My gun was extremely visible and just about everyone in the room flinched or grimaced at the sight of it. "Now what?"

He didn't reply. He just looked into my eyes for a split second before he lifted my arm up.

"What are you doing?" It came out as more of a squeal but I was surprised. Wouldn't you be too? I mean, my ex-boyfriend was lifting my arm above my head. A little creepy if you ask me.

"Who shot you?"

"What are you talking about?"

He pointed toward a spot on the inside of my arm and said, "Here. That's a bullet wound. Who shot you?"

"Oh wow. Nina I guess the bullet from this morning _did_ graze me." Everyone looked on curiously and I inspected it before I said, "It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"That's not nothing Jess. It's pretty deep. Come on, let's get that bandaged up." Well, now he calls me Jess. But of course he had my wrist in his hand and was already dragging me out of the room. And that was something that I was having nothing of.

"There is no way in hell you are taking me anywhere. Get off me, now! I can't believe you would do this, in front of everybody and my daughter for God's sake."

"Jess, I know that you're extremely mad at me, which you have every reason to be, but you need to get that patched up before it gets worse." He took my whole arm this time to drag me out of the room.

I couldn't really help it, I got mad. The arm that he wasn't pulling was already reaching for my gun before I even knew what I was doing. I cocked it and pointed it at his skull. "You are taking me nowhere, got that?"

Nina hurried over and put a hand on my arm and said, "Jay, do you really want to do this? In front of all these people? I know you two have your problems, but do you really want to do this in front of Kat?"

She knew how to get to me. I pulled my other hand away from Rob before he knew what was happening. He was too much in shock to fight me anymore. I grabbed my coat out of his arm and went over to Kat who was in Helen's arms at that moment. I put on my coat, grabbed my daughter and said, "Come on, we're leaving."

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**A.N.: So, how did you guys like it? Sorry for the long wait, but I updated as fast as I could, I swear. So, you guys know the drill, review and I write faster…**


	9. The Trouble With Guys

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **kittykatangel518** for being the first person to review to my last chapter. I would also like to give a humungous thanks to **Anywien** and **nikki007** for reviewing to every chapter so far. I might not update for a while due to my school projects and finals coming up, and my job. Sorry!**

kittykatangel518**: Yeah, Jess pointing a gun a Rob's head was kind of interesting. I actually got that idea when I was writing the chapter. But thanks for thinking that it was amazing. I appreciate it.**

Anywien**: Yes, Jess was going to shoot "the hotness" and yes Jess was a stupid woman for doing it, but she did have her reasons.**

nikki007**: Thanks so much for the review.**

Zelina**: _If_ I write well and exciting? So your saying I don't? That's a joke by the way. Lol. Thanks for the review.**

uknowwhoslittleprincess**: Sorry it's taken me so long, but I have a lot to do right now, I've been very busy.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**; I'm kind? That's a new one. And even I'm a little "special" so don't feel so bad. I can hate potatoes if I want to. I would love to update every 6 hours, but even I'm not that good. Ha! Allergies. I have Fig Newtons, yay for Catty. I need your funniness, please review!**

iluvmybeagle**: I try to hurry, but it still takes me forever to update. Lol.**

Ria le Fay**: Thanks for the review.**

PinkExplosion**: I don't know if they'll get back together, you'll have to wait and see.**

chocaholic**: Rob? He's not really good or bad. He's just made some really bad choices.**

PinkExplosion**: Yeah, I thought that Jess saying that about the bullet was funny too. Hanks for the two reviews to the chapter though. It made me feel special.

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**(Time Line)**

Jess gets pregnant with Kat in September of her senior year in high school.

She leaves for California in November.

Jess attends the Mission Academy for the rest of her senior year or at least until Kat was born.

Kat born on May 22nd.

Two years later, July, Jess goes back home. (Kat then two)

They leave for California, still in July.

Every five years Jess goes back to visit, without anybody else.

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**The Trouble with Guys**

**Someday**

_Thirteen years later-_

I was at home going over a report in my kitchen. Well, that's what I was supposed to be doing. I never really got around to reading it. I was actually extremely nervous today for some reason. I have no idea why I would be so nervous, but I was. I ended up making myself some comfort food and pigging out in front of the television. And by comfort food, I mean a quart of Friendly's chocolate cookie dough. The only time I had to get up was when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jay, it's Suze. I just wanted to ask you about that report."

"Sorry Nina, but I haven't even started reading it yet. I swear I'll read it today and talk to you about it tomorrow."

She didn't like that, but there was nothing that she could do, "Okay, just make sure you read it." Damn, now I had to sit down and read it.

I guess I should explain myself. A few months after we got back to Carmel after visiting Indiana, we moved to Washington D.C. Nina, Jesse, Kat, and I lived happily together for a while, but that was until Nina got pregnant. We moved right next door to her after that. Now, it's just me and Kat living by ourselves. Jesse and Nina now have three kids, Teresa, 9, Juan, 7, and Tomás, 2. Kat occasionally baby sits them when none of us adults can. I still went back to Indiana sometimes. It would only be for like a day or two and Kat never knew. I didn't want her to.

Now, onto Kat. She turned fifteen about six months ago. Kat is a sophomore in the local high school. Right now, she has a seventeen-year-old boyfriend named Shawn who is also a senior. He's really sweet and likes Kat a lot. I promised myself when Kat was younger that I wouldn't be like my parents and I wouldn't discourage her about having older boyfriends, so I don't. Besides, Shawn isn't a bad kid. Believe me, I got a full background check on him thanks to my faithful job at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Speaking of Kat, I just heard her come into the house. "Hi, Mom, I'm home."

I stepped out of the kitchen enough to the point where I could lean against the doorway into the foyer. "Hey, sweetie. How was school?"

"It sucked as usual. Oh, is it alright if Shawn stays for a while?" Her pale blue eyes that looked so much like her father's looked at me with an innocent expression.

"Sure, as long as you guys stay in the living room or the kitchen." Shawn stepped into the doorway just as I finished reminding Kat of the rules. It's not like I don't want her to go into her bedroom with a boy, it's just I don't want her to go through some of the same things that I did. "Hey Shawn."

"Hi, Ms. Mastriani." Shawn was a quiet sort of a boy. He liked to be respectful to me and everything. But as far as I can tell, he's not much like Rob. I mean, he doesn't drive a motorcycle, he's not on probation, and he doesn't have any big secrets.

"Aw, Mom that is totally-" Kat started to complain and I wasn't having any of that.

"How many times have do I have to tell you, call me Jess. Ms. Mastriani makes me sound old. And I'm only 33." Kat opened her mouth to say something, "Kat, you know the rules and you know why the rules are in place. Don't complain about them."

She grudgingly nodded and went into the kitchen with Shawn at her heels. I shook my head as they passed me. I knew she understood my reasons for everything, I don't have any secrets from her, but that doesn't mean she likes them.

At about 4:30 I went into the kitchen where Kat and Shawn were doing homework together to make dinner. "Shawn, are you staying for dinner?"

He looked up at me and said, "No, I have to go to work in a while."

I nodded and started on the homemade pizza. Hey, I am the daughter of a chef who owns three pizza joints; I should know how to make homemade pizza.

Right before Shawn left I heard them arguing. I don't usually get involved, but Kat was calling me, so I felt obligated to go.

"What's up?"

Kat had tears leaking from her eyes and staining her cheeks, as Shawn looked really uncomfortable and slightly regretful. "Shawn's turning eighteen next week and he thinks that we should break up because of our age difference. Please help me."

Now this was something that I had gone through. I really had hoped that Kat would never have to go through something like this. "Shawn, do you know why Kat doesn't have a father?"

"Kat only said that she never met him because of something he did to you."

"That's half of it. When I was sixteen, he was eighteen and on probation. He thought we shouldn't be together because he would get in trouble." I broke off. It was brining up these memories again. "I was heartbroken. And I don't want that to happen to Kat."

He nodded. "I just don't want anything to happen or anything."

Kat had curled herself around my body and was silently sobbing. "If you two want to have sex or whatever, then at least let me know and for God's sake, make sure you're both being safe."

"Are you telling us that we can have sex if we want to?" He looked shocked. But hey, what can I say? I'm a cool mom. I'm the kind of mom that every kid wants to have.

"I can't stop you if you do. I just want to make sure you guys don't make the same mistakes I did. I would rather see you guys a little older, but there's nothing I can do about that."

Kat lifted her head form my shoulder. Did I mention that she was taller than me? It's not like it that hard, but she had inherited her father's height. She had inherited a lot from her father. "Shawn, I want you to leave. Just go."

"W-What?"

This time she moved herself away from my body completely and said, "You heard me, GO!" He didn't need to hear it another time. He practically ran out the front door and into his car.

"I'm sorry sweetie." She fell pitilessly into my arms again and sobbed loud and long.

"It's okay Mom. He only wanted my body and I don't want to do any of that."

I didn't even think she was that strong. It surprised me. "You'll be fine soon enough. I mean, look at me. I got over it."

She nodded and said, "Mom, I wanted to talk to you about something. I've been thinking about it for a while now."

"What is it? You can talk to me about anything." I moved some of her hair out of her eyes and wiped her cheeks off with my hand.

"I want to meet my father."

Oh, god.

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**A.N.: So, how was it? I know the whole thing with Shawn was odd, but I needed to show the similarities and differences between mother and daughter. I'll try to update as soon as I can, I promise. But, you have to promise to review…**


	10. Good To Be Home

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **kittykatangel518** for being the first to review to my last chapter. I would also like to give a special thanks to **Anywien **and** nikki007** for reviewing to every chapter up to now. Sorry it took me so long to update, but I had to finish _Loose Ends_ first.**

kittykatangel518**: Sorry, but I wanted the rest of the story to have an older Kat who could talk and make decisions for herself. I didn't want to make Jess so old, but it was necessary.**

nikki007**: Thanks so much for the review.**

Zelina**: funny, thanks for the review.**

iluvmybeagle**: Thanks for being so understanding.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Have I ever mentioned that I love your reviews? I'm a spoon though? But I wanna be a fork! No fair. I don't have any more fig newton's though. Darn. And I wouldn't _actually_ threaten my reviewers. That's not fun.**

Smiley0925**: Yeah, it will be. I can't wait to write it.**

Anywien**; Yeah, I wish my mother was cool like that, but alas, I don't have a mother. And you got mentioned in an A.N. _again_, how does that feel?**

Missy Moose**: Thanks so much for the review. Your idea isn't plagiarizing, but I would still totally want to be your beta. Only because I want to read the story first. I wanna be special. I never get to be special. Lol. Thanks for asking, I can't wait to read it.**

SingingSoftly**: I can't promise the whole not killing someone. I have no idea what my fingers will type. You never know with me. And you never know if the ending will be a happy one or not.**

Dragonfly**: Your review came in three times. It was kinda amusing. Yeah, I would love to see Rob and Jess get back together, but it would be great if they didn't too, you know? Thanks so much for saying I'm a great writer.**

monkeyAml**: Sorry, I tried to make it as unconfusing as I could. No, Jess walked in on Rob in the act of cheating on her when she came to tell him that she was pregnant. The person he did it with is unknown at this point in time.**

SUPERSEXY1**: …Thanks.**

1800iRock**: Thanks for the compliment and I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but I have work and finals lately. But school is over now. So I can write!

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**Good To Be Home**

**Someday**

I knew that this was going to happen at some point. I just had hoped it wouldn't have come so soon. She was only fifteen! But then again, when I was fifteen I had already been beating up football players.

I sighed, "Okay, we'll go to meet your father."

She grinned hopefully and said, "Awesome, when are we leaving?"

"We can leave as soon as I call Nina. Go pack while I talk."

I dialed the number for Nina's house and Jesse answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Is Nina around?" He heard the slight shake in my voice that I had finally let come through when Kat left the room. I didn't want her to know that I had feared this day her entire life, but my nightmare was coming to life in front of my eyes. Whoever said that nightmares couldn't come true was dead wrong.

Nina came on the phone a minute later. Evidently, Jesse had told Nina that there was something wrong with me. "Jay? What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Nina, Kat wants to go meet her father." My breath was coming in short ragged spurts. I needed to calm down but the panic was sending me into overdrive.

"Oh my God! How are you dealing with it?" I could hear the kids running around in the background and Jesse trying to calm them down.

"I'm going back Nina. For her. And for me I guess. I haven't been back in a few years, and I haven't seen him in thirteen. I would rather not see him again. I mean, you remember what happened the last time I say him. What am I saying? I can't see him again! Oh, what am I going to do?" I rambled. I tend to do that when I'm nervous or scared about something.

"Do you want me to come with you guys?"

"No, just do that paperwork while I'm gone and I'll be back soon enough." I gave a heavy sigh. "Wish me luck."

"Jay, you don't need luck. Sweetie, you need a miracle. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

I put the phone back on the charger and slowly turned around to go into my bedroom to pack. Kat was standing in the doorway obviously eavesdropping on our conversation. "Do you hate my dad that much?" She had tears in her eyes. She wasn't letting them fall, and I was somewhat proud of her for that.

"Kat, it's not like that. I'll explain everything to you in the car. We'll leave in the morning." I stood in front of her and kissed her forehead. "And I don't hate your father. To tell you the truth: I love him, even now. Get to bed missy, pronto."

I hardly slept that night at all. I just couldn't shake the feeling that Kat was going to choose him over me. If only she knew how much she meant to me. If she stays with Rob, I don't know what I would do. She's been the one thing that's kept me alive these past sixteen years.

Kat was eager to leave the next morning. She even woke me out of my fitful sleep at seven in the morning. I had forgotten there was a seven in the morning. Let's just say I was a bit grumpy for the first hour in the car.

"Mom, why did you leave Indiana? I mean, why didn't you stay with your parents?"

I paused to think how I could explain it. "My parents-your grandparents-wouldn't have liked me being pregnant before I even graduated high school. And on top of that, I didn't want your father knowing I was pregnant for reasons you already know."

She nodded and took a sip of her diet coke. "Do they know about me now?"

I nodded. "I came back to Indiana when you were two. I doubt you even remember it, but you did meet them."

She looked out her window, my guess so she wouldn't have to look at me when she asked her next round of questions, "Have I ever met him? Why don't you want him to know about me?"

"Yes, you have met him, but he doesn't know that you're his daughter. And I don't want him to know about you because…well, mostly because he hurt me so bad that I thought he didn't deserve you. I know it's hard, sweetie. Not growing up with a father, I mean. I've tried my best. I only hope that it was good enough. When I was growing up, my mother used to make us matching dresses and my dad said that if I was good and wore them and everything, he would buy me a motorcycle when I turned eighteen."

"What happened?" Her light brown hair was blowing in the breeze and I could almost see myself in her face for a minute there.

"I left before I turned eighteen, your uncles got things on their eighteenth birthdays. Your uncle Doug got a car and your uncle Mike got a computer with a shitload of computer stuff to go with it." I sighed.

"Do you miss them?"

This almost seemed like twenty questions, except more questions on her part and less on mine. "Sometimes. But then I think of the life I have now, with you, and I think that this is so much better."

"Tell me about my uncles."

So I did. I told her about everyone back in Indiana. Everyone from my family, to Rob's family, to my friends at Chicks'.

I finally saw the sign for my hometown. I can't believe that Kat was back with me. "We're here." I said quietly. So quietly, I thought that she might not have heard it.

I went straight to the place that felt like my sanctuary for the last year I was here. The place where I felt like I belonged and nothing could ever happen to me.

I entered the building with Kat in tow. The smoky air was actually a relief to my senses. The bartender looked at us as we walked in and said, "Hey, no one allowed in under eighteen. You gotta leave young lady."

"Aw, come on Chick. She's with me." I walked closer to him so he could see my face through the icky atmosphere of the bar.

At the sound of my voice, the entire bar went quiet and the only sound was that coming out of the jukebox. "Mastriani?"

I touched my face, breasts, and butt with my hands and said, "Yep, I think it's me."

A lot of men from one of the booths came over to greet us. "It's good to see you again Mastriani." I was enveloped in a huge group hug. And the sad part was that I really didn't mind it all that much. A few tears even escaped my eyelids and started running down my cheeks.

Chick came around the counter and said, "So, what brings you back to Indiana, little lady?"

I paused, "Kat wanted to meet her father."

They all looked over at Kat and Hank whistled, "don't you look so pretty all grown up."

I laughed, "Don't get any ideas you guys, she's my daughter and still fifteen." I only said that to ease Kat's mind. From the expression on her face, I could tell that she didn't really like my friends.

"Um, Kat these are some of my old friends. Are you hungry? We can have something to eat before we go over there."

She shook her head and sat down on one of the stools.

"Did I tell you that you still look ultra hot?" Greg put his arm around my waist and swung me around the room for a few seconds while I had a good laugh.

"So, Jess, how are you handling the whole coming back to finally tell Rob the truth thing?" Kat had finally got something to eat and we were sitting down in the booth squished together. She had really warmed up to my friends. She was laughing and having a really good time. I was too.

At least, until I looked at my watch and saw that it was already six in the evening. "Kat, we have to go."

She whined, "Oh, come on Mom, can't we stay a little longer?"

I wanted to cave, I really did. But we needed to go. "No, we have to go. We'll be back before we leave. I promise. Well, that's if you don't choose your father over me." I muttered the last sentence to myself. I didn't want her to hear my concern. But, Hank and Greg heard loud and clear. They gave me looks that obviously said: you-think-she-would-choose-him-over-_you_.

"I'll be back, I promise." I hugged everyone individually and gave them each a kiss on the cheek.

"If you need anything, just remember that we're here for you."

When we got into the car, Kat said with awe, "I _love_ your friends. They are so awesome. I can't wait to go back." She paused and looked at me enthusiastically, "When are we going back?"

I shrugged uncomfortably and said, "That all depends on you."

She nodded and silently looked out her window.

"I'm not trying to pressure you, I'm just saying that it's between me and your father here. You can choose either one of us. I just…don't want to lose you. And your father is a good man, and it's your choice."

"You don't think I'm ready to make it?" Her words sounded harsh to even my own ears.

"No, no, no, no. I just don't want you to make a decision that will ultimately suck." The silence after that was almost deafening.

It was a good thing that it wasn't too much longer until we reached Rob's old house. The silence was making me crazy. Rob himself didn't live there anymore, he moved out over ten years ago, but I needed to see some people before I could see him.

I knocked on the door and waited for the one person who was the best mother I could have ever asked for. "Jessie, oh my God, Jessie! You came back!"

She hadn't even bothered to hold in her tears. They were streaming down her face when she pulled me in a hug. "Yeah, it's me Mom. And it's good to see you again too." And to tell you the truth, I had tears coming out of my eyes too.

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**A.N.: I decided to stop there. I could have made this chapter longer, but I really need to get working on my other stories too. Do me a favor and review, please?**

**I just need to ask you guys a question, well actually three questions:**

**1.Do you guys want Kat to stay with Jess or Rob?**

**2.Should Rob be married already?**

**3.What do you think: should Jess get back together with Rob? (Only if no to Number Two)**


	11. Realizations

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Mrs. Nikki Slater **for being the first to review to my last chapter. I would also like to give special thanks to **Anywien** and **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for being my faithful reviewers to this story.**

**I want to say that the final decision for this story will be mine and I can do whatever I want. Those questions were for me to know what my readers _want_ to have happen, not necessarily will happen.**

Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Thanks for the ideas, but I'm not even sure if I'm going to have a "happy ending" or not. I might not want one.**

Lunetta-Chan**: Thanks for responding.**

Paulie Puddin' Pie**: Thanks for the review, but as I said, there won't definetly be a happy ending.**

LlamaDuck**: Yes, a lot of people are hopeless romantics, me included, but I'm also a sucker for dramatic endings.**

Smiley0925**: Well, thanks for your opinions and I'll take them into consideration.**

iluvmybeagle**: I'm not letting you choose. In the end, I'm the one writing and I make the final decisions. Sometimes, I have something planned out and go a completely different way. Sometimes, I surprise myself.**

monkeyAml**: Thanks so much for the review.**

Anywien**: Thanks for responding. I'll take what you said into consideration.**

Liz**: Thanks for reviewing and the ideas.**

Ria le Fay**: Thank you for answering the questions and reviewing.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Yes, I love _your_ reviews. And yes, I'm very funny. And if I'm a fork, you have to be a spatula.**

maliaphire**: The first three sentences of your review made absolutely no sense. Quote: you should be flattered that someone made their own version of it. its fanfiction, thats what fanfiction is-your own version or follow on from someone else's: Unquote. What the hell were you talking about, I should be flattered. I had my friend read your review and even she didn't understand it.**

1800iRock**: Thanks for the review. I appreciate it.**

Golden Angel**: I updated, you should be happy now.**

Living2Love**: Thanks for responding.**

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**Realizations**

**Someday **

"Come in, come in." She ushered us into her living room and onto the couches there. "Sit, I'll go get Gary." She went through the door that goes into the kitchen. My guess would be that Gary was working in the garage.

"Mom, who is she?"

"Your grandmother." I took a look at her face and noticed how interested she was in all this.

"So, that means that she's your mom?"

I shook my head, "No, she's your father's mother. And before you ask, yes, I do call her Mom. She was more of a mother to me than my own mother."

She seemed to be contemplating the things I just told her. I stared at her and for the millionth time in her life, I tried to see what she got from Rob. She had his eyes and his nose. The eyes that were unreadable at most times. His height was a give in. When I was her age, I was still under five feet. Also, her smile was so like her fathers'. She had a smile that could brighten everything in the room and make me happy when I was feeling down. From me, she got her face and her hair. Of course, she kept hers longer than I kept mine, but it was still the same color and everything. She also got her attitude from me. My little Kat doesn't mind beating up football players and getting in trouble. I'm lucky that it hasn't been anything really bad yet.

Mom and Gary came through the door a few seconds later. I stood up, good manners, I know. I saw Kat stand up out of the corner of my eye, although I'm pretty sure that it was just curiosity instead of manners. Gary came right over to me and gave me a hug, "It's been awhile Jessie. We sure have missed you."

"I've missed you guys too. Way too much."

Mom looked over at Kat and said, "Oh, is this Kat? You're so grown up. And you're so pretty."

She held out her hand awkwardly and said, "It's very nice to meet you…"

Mom looked a little hurt, "Jessie…"

I sighed and walked over to stand in front of Kat, "I know you've never met them before, but they're awesome people and you really should give them a shot. Can you do that for me?"

She nodded and whispered, "What am I supposed to call them?"

Mom heard and gave her a big hug, "You can call us Grammy and Granppy. Is that okay?"

She gave us one of her dazzling smiles and said, "That's perfect."

Gary gave Kat a small hug, or at least small compared to Moms' and said, "Jessie girl, your daughter looks a lot like her father now that she's all grown up. I remember when you were two. You looked so much like your mother."

I nodded and said, "That's the one thing I notice every day of my life."

We all sat down. I sat in the big comfy recliner chair and Kat, Mom, and Gary sat on the couch with Kat squished between the both of them. Mom asked first, "So, what are you doing here Jessie?"

I looked away. I couldn't look at her when I said this. I looked out the window at the empty road there. "Kat wanted to meet her father."

They were both shocked. Mom looked from Kat to me, and back again. "Well, that's not the reason I had envisioned you coming back for."

I nodded and said, "How is he?"

She paused for a minute and was even hesitant to answer. That's never a good sign. "He's…alright." She wasn't going to open up any more than that. I knew it.

I looked at Gary to see if he would shed any light on the subject, but his face was an expressionless mask. They're hiding something from me; I know it.

Mom changed the subject, "Have you seen your parents yet Jessie?"

I shook my head vigorously and said, "No, and I'm not planning to." Kat looked a little confused. She really didn't know what happened between my parents and me to make me not want to see them even. I wasn't going to tell her and I'm pretty sure that she wasn't going to ask. At some point, Kat was going to want to meet them and when that time came, her father could introduce them. Either him or his parents could do it.

She looked a little sad, but her expression changed in a second when she said, "Well, you can at least come and see the fireworks tonight."

That was different. We had never really had fireworks here before. "What fireworks?"

She sighed and said, "You don't know, do you? When you left…everyone in the town sort of came together. After a few months, there was no difference between the Grits and the Townies as they were called. You brought this town together when you left Jessie."

This is seriously a day for shocks. I can't count the number of times that I've been shocked today. I mean, I brought the town together. Me. The person who didn't care about the town differences when it mattered to the town most. I don't know if I like the idea that I ended up changing so many things when I left. I was the one who dated a Grit. I didn't care what he was. And now, I changed the town to see that way too. But, how is that possible? I mean, I left. I wasn't even there to change the town. But if Mom said I did, then I guess I have to believe her…

"Do you want to go sweetie?" I asked Kat. I didn't really want to go knowing that practically all the town would be there. But if Kat wanted to go, then I would do it for her.

She nodded vigorously and said, "That would be awesome."

Gary clapped his hands once and jumped to his feet saying, "Great! Now let's have some dinner before we go."

I started to stand up slowly while everyone else was already halfway to the kitchen door. "Wait. What are you guys not telling me about Rob?"

Mom walked over to me slowly. Or at least, I though she was walking over to me. She actually walked around me and picked up a picture. I got a closer look at it and noticed that Rob was in it with a woman. It was a wedding picture. She handed the frame over to me. "He's married sweetie."

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**A.N.: So, how was that chapter for you guys? Now can you review for me? It would make me very happy.**


	12. Fire In The Sky

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for being the first to review to the last chapter. I would also like to give special thanks to **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for reviewing to every chapter so far. I've kind of thought out the rest of the story and decided that I'll probably have a total of 16 or 17 chapters altogether.**

Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Yes, Rob is married. Believe it.**

Ithyphallophobia**: Yes, Rob does love the woman he is married to, so you will both die. And fights are very good. I like fights.**

Quietly Losing Control**: At least someone agrees with me. Thank you.**

Lunetta-Chan**: …Thanks.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Yes, I left a cliffie. I _always_ leave a cliffie. And ha! The fork wins again. It shall remain triumphant over the spatula.**

monkeyAml**: Again: yes, Rob is married. And no, his wife will not die no matter how much you wish it.**

iluvmybeagle**: Thanks so much for the review.**

metamorphosis00**: It is very fair. Why should Rob have to wait for Jess that long especially if she wasn't even planning on coming back?**

maliaphire**: Oh yeah, I'm way over that. That whole thing happened months ago. Thanks for reviewing.**

IluvMegCabot!**: Thanks for agreeing with me. I appreciate it.**

Smiley0925**: …Shock…**

lkinder**: Yes, Rob is married. What you said was funny though. Thanks.**

Kippie**: All of the questions you asked are explained in other chapters. I even went and read over the story to make sure. So just read it.

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**Fire In The Sky**

**Someday**

"Really? How interesting." I handed the frame back to her and walked to the door leading to the kitchen.

Kat looked at me with a look of outrage and hurt, "That's it? You don't care that the guy you love-my father-is married to another woman. You don't care at all?"

I sighed and pulled her into a hug, "Listen to me: you are the most important person in my life and I've had sixteen years of not being with your father. I can't expect him to wait that long for me."

She had been looking into my eyes during my proclamation, but she turned her head once I finished. I never thought about it before, but I think that my sweet little daughter was trying to set us up. She was disappointed because now there was no way we would get back together. It was kind of sweet in a way. I mean, she knew that I was still a little depressed from not being with Rob, so she was going to try to pull us together again. If she asked me before, I would have told her that it wouldn't have worked.

Her voiced held the sadness that she had been feeling, "So, you guys won't be getting back together?"

"Sweetie, if you had asked me that in the car or even three years ago, my answer would be the same. We both have to move on with our lives and I don't think I could deal with being with your father again. Come here." I pulled her into a hug and she held me tighter than ever before.

"Well let's go have some dinner."

The meal was fabulous. I had forgotten how much I missed Mom's cooking. She had made a lot for some unknown reason, so we had just enough between the four of us. Throughout dinner, we all talked and laughed like a real family. Not that we're not a real family, it's just that we don't really even know each other.

Before we left, we gathered some blankets and snacks. Well, even in Indiana, it can get cold at night and if we got hungry, we had to have some food available. Mom thought that we should bring chairs with us. You know, the beach type chairs. But, Gary said that we could all just sit on one of the blankets. Kat and I didn't mind sitting on the blankets. We actually do that every year and lay down to watch the fireworks over our heads.

We piled into our car and headed over to the outskirts of town. We would have taken their truck, but we didn't think we could all fit. And there was no way we were riding in the back of his truck.

There were already a lot of people there by the time we arrived. I recognized a lot of people. My whole family was there and I was keen on picking a spot where they wouldn't see us. I didn't point them out, but I just told everyone to sit "over there" and the "there" happened to be far away from them. I also noticed some people from school. Actually, a lot of people from school. I saw all my friends from Chicks' and I got up to go see them.

"Hey guys."

"Mastriani, what a surprise!"

"Yeah, I know. Do you guys want to sit over with us?" I pointed to the spot where Mom, Gary, and Kat were sitting.

They shrugged and said different versions of yes. So, we all trudged over to the pile of blankets we had set out. It's a good thing that we brought about a dozen of them. We all had a lot of fun with them though. They were amusing Kat with tales of theirs. It was funny for all of us actually, especially because I was involved in some of them.

About a half hour before it got dark, a guy-the mayor-got a microphone and started speaking. Nobody could really see where he was, but we could hear him, "Thank you all for coming out here today. I would like to thank the people who set this all up and the firemen and police officers that are working today. Also, I would like to pay tribute to Jessica Mastriani to who this whole celebration is for. She brought this town together. So, here's to Jessica."

I heard a chorus of "To Jessica" and I looked down at Kat and saw that she was as surprised as I was. They dedicated this whole thing to _me_? Wow. I was still trying to process that into my slow-working brain when Hank got up and ran somewhere. I wasn't really paying attention as to where he was going. I didn't really care.

The mayor got back on his microphone and said, "I have just gotten news that Jessica Mastriani is _here_ right now. So, Jessica can you come over here?"

I looked around wildly until I saw Hank standing to the side of the guy with the microphone. He gave a sheepish smile and waved his hand. I guess to make sure I didn't run, Greg took my arm and steered me to them. To tell the truth, I probably would have run. I was scared. I saw everyone looking at me, and my parents crying. Well, my mom was crying. My dad had tears in his eyes, but he wasn't actually crying.

"Jessica, it's wonderful to see you. Would you care to say anything?"

I tired to shake my head and turn away, but Greg still had my arm and the guy practically threw the microphone into my hand. I bit my lip for a second and then said, "Well, um, first of all, I think I should say that both the two of you are dead." Everyone laughed at that. I didn't think it was funny. I was seriously going to kill them. "And second of all, I think I should say that I'm very surprised. When Mom said that we were in time for the fireworks tonight, I hadn't expected everyone to be here on account of me. Um, I just got here earlier today and I'll be leaving again in a few more. There's just some business I have to take care of. I know that some of you want to meet me again and everything, but I just…can't. And as I look out at all of you I see a lot of familiar faces. I don't know how I "brought the town together" and to tell you the truth, I don't really care. I'm happy for all of you. So, I guess that's it." I tired to go back to Kat, but Greg was _still_ holding onto my arm and he wouldn't let go.

Hank stood to the side of Greg and he said, "I think the town earns an explanation as to why their hero _doesn't really care_." I guess they took it personally. Damn.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kat running to me. She pulled me away from Greg and Hank and said, "Leave her alone. You know her secrets, and you know that they can't be told."

"Kat, it's okay. They're right. These people do deserve an explanation." I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me. I took a minute to breathe before I lifted the microphone back to my mouth. "As you probably all know; I left before I finished high school. I went to Carmel, California and lived with a friend of mine, and her family. I also joined the FBI. My friend was my partner. We came back here one time for a case. Kat was two, so it was about thirteen years ago. Um, we left and when back to Carmel. My partner and I moved to Washington D.C. with our families and we have lived there for the past twelve years. And we came back today because I have some business to take care of."

Greg shook his head and said, "And what's your daughter's name?" I wasn't getting out of this without telling. And I thought I could trust him! Well, he did keep the secret for more than fifteen years. That has to count for something, especially since he's one of Rob's best friends.

I sighed heavily, but before I could say anything, Kat grabbed the microphone out of my hand and said, "My full name is Kathleen Marie Wilkins, what's it to you?"

There was silence. Nobody dared to even speak a word. I heard the first firework over my head, and the sound rocketed through us like an empty wave.

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**A.N.: I actually wrote this chapter twice. The first time, I didn't like it, so I wrote it again. This one is actually longer and a whole lot better in my opinion. So, if you all can do me a favor and review that would be greatly appreciated.**

**Oh, and anyone who reads _The Choices We Make_, you should know that I'm not updating until I get some more reviews.**


	13. Anger

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Ithyphallophobia** for being the first to review to the last chapter. I would also like to thank **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for reviewing to every chapter.**

Ithyphallophobia**: You'll have to read to find out.**

IluvMegCabot!**: Thanks so much. I appreciate the love.**

Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Rob's a loser? Funny, I've made Rob into the bad guy.**

iluvmybeagle**: Thanks so much.**

maliaphire**: You'll have to read to find out what's going to happen. I'm not going to tell you.**

Addy**: Hehehe. Read…**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Wow, thanks.**

scarykitten**: You'll have to wait like the rest of them.**

monkeyAml**: Thanks so much for the review.**

Monkey sox roc**: Hey, I'll be VERY happy if you review to every chapter. I'll just sit back and let you. I don't care. I love the reviews. And thanks for the compliments.**

cassie89**: I actually don't know the answers to you questions yet, so you'll have to wait.**

Anywien**: I go crazy if I don't have a computer. It's okay that you didn't review. I missed you though.

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**Anger**

**Someday**

I gulped and looked at the faces in front of us. I wanted to run away, but I knew that it wouldn't help anyway. I ran away twice before, and I promised Kat that I wouldn't run this time. Everyone was shocked. I couldn't blame them.

Kat was strong. I admired that in her. "I said: what's it to you? You should at least answer and stop harassing my mom."

Hank took two steps closer to me and I punched him in the nose. I didn't break it, but I would say it was fractured. I did the same to Greg a second later. "You both are assholes. I trusted you guys. I can't believe you two. And to the whole town." I paced, walk three feet, turn, walk three feet, turn.

Hank said in a nasally voice, "They were going to know anyway."

The fireworks were going off in the background. I didn't even bother to watch them. I was actually planning two detailed murders in my head. I felt Kat take my hand and give it a squeeze. I looked at her and saw her raise her eyebrows, "Mom, you told me a few times that you used to be the toughest girl in school. Where is she?" She was right. I was acting like a scared little coward.

Kat let go of my hand. I walked to Greg who was leaning against a tree, holding his nose. I moved into a provocative position in front of him and whispered in his ear, "I thought I could trust you. You know that I came back here for Kat to meet _him_. But there is no way in hell that I'm going to move here. You should know that." I took a step back and surveyed him for a minute. I didn't even bother hitting him; he wasn't worth it. I turned around and saw Kat looking at me triumphantly and knew that she was proud of me.

"Let's go, Mom. I don't think I like these fireworks too much." I took her hand and we walked back to Mary.

Everyone around us was silent. There wasn't even a peep out of all of them. I turned around once to see what everyone was doing and saw that they were just staring at us. But there was something weird in the crowd. It was sort of like a glint. I guess that I had stopped to look at it cause I felt Kat pulling my arm. I took a few steps towards the direction she was pulling me, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the glint. I knew what it was; I just couldn't be sure. I couldn't fully see it. The person was too far away for me to see.

But then I saw it. A gun. And it was pointed towards me. But, not at me. No, it was pointed at Kat. I could practically feel the air as the person pulled the trigger. I pulled Kat behind me and stepped in front of the bullet. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the bullet came speeding at me. I knew that I had to protect Kat. It wasn't only because of the protection that I had promised to give her when she was in my womb, but also because I knew that if I died for her, my life would have had some semblance of meaning. Also, there were people petrified behind us, and I couldn't let them get hurt either.

The bullet never did hit me. Instead, a heavy object rammed into both of us and pushed us to the ground. I heard the heavy object say, "Are you crazy? I knew you were reckless, Mastriani, but I never knew you to be plain stupid." I finally registered that the person who had slammed into us was a person. And not just any person.

But, I didn't sit there and listen to them. I turned around to where Kat was sitting and hugged her, hard, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm alright. But, I don't think that he is…"

She pointed to the guy who had knocked us out of the way and I saw that he was holding onto his shoulder. There was blood coming out from underneath the fingers that he had over the wound. Some lady came up and started screaming and crying. I think it might have been directed at him, but I wasn't sure, her words made no sense whatsoever. "Listen, lady, why don't you do something helpful and shut up? Now, let me see that."

Kat suddenly hugged me from behind and wouldn't let go. I just leaned forward and pried the guy's fingers away from his shoulder. It was pretty bad. "Did somebody call the hospital yet?" I had to yell to get anybody to hear me.

Mary sat down next to us and said, "One's on its way. How's your shoulder, Rob?"

He nodded at her, but he didn't even look at her. He was looking at me. It was Rob and he was looking at me. And he had taken the bullet for me, for us.

Oh, God.

He reached with his good hand, the one that was all bloody, and stroked my cheek. "I missed you Jess."

I nodded and leaned into his hand. A few tears leaked out of my eyelids, but he wiped them away with his thumb. I suddenly remembered: he was married. A married man was doing that. I pulled away and said, "You're married?"

He nodded gravely. "And I take it that it wasn't your idea to come back to town?"

"No, Kat wanted to meet you."

He fell back on the ground and sighed.

Kat let go of my waist and moved in front of me. She sat down on my lap and said, "So, you're my father?" I circled my arms around her waist so she could have some support.

He looked at her for a minute before nodding.

"Why did you get married to another woman? Didn't you love my mom?" She looked a little hurt.

He looked at the both of us and said sadly, "I loved your mom very much, and actually, I still love her. But, I didn't think she was coming back, and I couldn't wait forever."

Her expression went from sad and hurt to furious, "_You're_ the one who cheated. _You're_ the one who ruined it. And you were waiting for _her_ to come to _you_! How dare you! All of the people around you knew where we were and you never once bothered to come and find us, her, but you want her to come to you. You pig! I hate you! I _hate_ you!" She ran out of my arms. I couldn't see where she was going in all the people. And there was that person who had tried to shoot her. Not good.

Rob and I both sighed, "I didn't mean it like that Jess. You have to believe me on that."

I nodded and said, "I better go find my daughter before someone else does."

I went in the general direction that she headed. I wasn't sure where she was running too, but I was sure that I would find her. I heard the ambulance come. I didn't turn around to watch Rob being carried off, but I could feel him looking at me until the doors closed. I couldn't think about that though. Kat needed me.

Most of the people were slowly leaving. I could finally see some distance into the field. But, I looked in every direction and I couldn't see Kat.

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**A.N.: So…how was that? Did you guys expect that? Hehehe. Anyway, please review.**

**And as I said in my other story, I'm making a map of where all my reviewers are from. So, in the review, please just tell me what country. And if it's the USA, please specify the state. Names won't be used in the map and I'll be posting it on my journal when I'm done with it. Thanks if you participate.**


	14. Where In The World Is Kathleen Wilkins?

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Anywien** for being the first to review to the last chapter. I would also like to thank **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for reviewing to every chapter.**

Anywien**: I'm going on vacation soon and I won't have a computer, so I think I'll go crazy there too. Thanks for the review.**

maliaphire**: Your question will be answered when you read. Well, not this chapter. The next one will have your answer.**

Addy**: Yeah, not many people like Rob being married to another woman. And your question will be answered when you read the next chapter really.**

iuvmybeagle**: I actually hadn't planned it, it just kind of happened. But. I like it, so I left it. And I'm known in my writing for writing things that people don't expect. Lol.**

IluvMegCabot!**: Well, Rob did love Jess and he did wait for her to come back for years before he finally gave up and got married. It's understandable. And taking the bullet…I really just needed someone to do it. At first I thought Jess would, but then I thought why not have Rob take it and it turned out really good I think.**

Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Thanks so much for the review!**

cassie89**: Yeah, Rob is still the knight. I always make him into a jackass knight though. Lol.**

Smiley0925**: Thanks so much for the compliment.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Yes, he is. But that's mostly because I needed him to be for the story to be so absolutely perfect. And it is? I never would have thought that. I mean, I know that _Loose Ends_ and _Remember Me?_ are popular, but I never thought that this one would be better than those and all of the other ones on the site.**

Rieanna**: Thanks for the review.**

Ithyphallophobia**: You'll find out what happened to Kat when you read. And thanks for reviewing.**

monkeyAml**: You _need_ to know? That's pretty cool.**

scarykitten**: Thanks so much for the review!**

Jess1812**: Really? It is? Thanks.**

Hermione88220**: You'll have to read to find out all of those answers.**

wabibito**: Thank so much for the review.**

Mareena**: Awesome? Thanks for the review.**

Lightning-Mage-Betrayl**: Thanks so much for the review. I appreciate it a lot.

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**Where In The World Is Kathleen Wilkins?**

**Someday**

Okay, so I admit it, I was freaking out. Wouldn't you though? I mean, one second my daughter had run off and the second she was just gone. Totally. I would understand if she had just run under a tree to sit and wait for me, but she was just gone. She knew that she couldn't do that. I have made too many enemies in my past, especially here, for her to run off on me.

Let me say this right now: my powers, the ones I have to find missing people, yeah, they've grown, a lot. I now have the ability to think of a missing person and know where they are. There are certain exceptions, like I have to either know or have seen a picture of the person first. I think that I would go insane if I didn't, you know, because I would always be getting psychic images in my head non stop. Not fun. Not fun at all.

So, when I couldn't see Kat visually, I tried to find her psychically. I've done it before. Most of the time it was when she was out on a date and I wanted to know what they were doing and how they were. So I concentrated on her. It's usually so easy for me, but with the ambulances in the background and the last remaining people in the parking lot, I couldn't. I had to sit down on the dirt and meditate. It's something that I learned from Nina who does it all the time. Anyway, I meditated for about a half an hour before I got juggled out of my reverie.

"Jessie, I don't know what you're doing, but it's getting really late. I think we should head back to the house." Mom tried to pull me up by my shoulder, but I just pushed her hand away.

I took out my phone and dialed Nina's cell phone. I know that even with the time difference the kids would be asleep. There was no way in hell I was waking up those little monsters if I didn't have to. "Hullo?" She sounded really tired.

"Nina, it's Jay. Kat's missing." My voice was still calm, but barely. I really wanted to have a panic attack, but that probably wouldn't be the best thing right now.

I could hear the rustling of sheets and Jesse talking in the background. Nina seemed to drop the phone. It was really loud in my ear. I heard her pick it back up noisily and then say, "I'll be right there." We hung up without anyone other words said. We didn't _need_ to say anything else to each other. That's how well we knew each other.

I finally stood up and turned to where Mom and Gary were standing, "Come on. We should go."

I couldn't really sleep that night. I mean, my daughter was missing, presumably kidnapped. And how was I supposed to sleep knowing that? I'll tell you: I couldn't. I kept tossing and turning till I heard Mary get up and walk past the bedroom door. Did I forget to mention that I was sleeping in Rob's old room? It didn't really change that much. A few of the things that he used to have littered around were missing. At one point during the night, I got up and tried to find some of my old stuff. Everything was gone. I wondered if Rob threw them out or took them with him when he moved out.

Nina called me when I was trying to eat breakfast. By trying I mean Mom was forcing food down my throat. I didn't want to eat. Everything seemed so surreal now. I don't even know what's going on anymore. I can't even distinguish my thoughts enough to know what I'm thinking. But Nina calling me helped a lot. "Jay, I'm in Indiana and on my way. I'll be there in an hour." A pause. "We'll find her Jay, I swear we will."

"Thanks Nina." I could hear her sniffle and clear her throat a few times. An evident sign that she was about to cry, "I love you, Nina. You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

She really started crying after that. "Stop making me cry. I'll see you soon. And don't do _anything_ till I get there. You here me?"

"Of course." I shut my phone and stared at the food on my plate. My daughter was missing. I should probably call the police or my superiors to send able bodied men to help find her. I saw Mom and Gary shoot me some looks of pity. Have I mentioned how much I _hate_ pity? Yeah, well, I do. So, instead of sitting around, I went over to Chicks'.

"Hey, Mastriani, where's your kid?" That was the first thing I heard when I stepped into the familiar bar.

I let a few tears fall. They definitely weren't my first or were they going to be my last. "I don't know."

Chick himself stepped out from behind the bar and pulled my into a bear hug that almost crushed my ribs. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that _I don't know_. Yesterday when she ran off…I think she was kidnapped."

"So, why can't you find her?"

I buried my head into his warm chest and said, "I don't know." Started bawling and Chick was nice enough to just hold me and make comforting noises.

My cell phone rang a few minutes later. "Jay? I'm in town, where are you?"

"At Chicks'."

She was there less than five minutes later. The first thing she did was hug me and cry on my shoulder. Actually, we were both crying.

She sniffled, "Do you know where she is?"

I shook my head and wiped my eyes with a napkin that Chick handed me.

"Do you know how to find her?"

I shook my head again. She looked crestfallen. But it was the truth. "I don't know where she is or how to find her, but I know where to start."

"And where's that?"

I looked into her eyes. I didn't take my eyes away. Nina was always the strong one for me, but this time. I had to be strong. I had been weak last night when Kat needed me, but this time, I wasn't letting her down. "We start with her father."

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**A.N.: I know, I know, it sucked. And I know it took me forever to put it up. For that, I'm sorry. And I think that you guys have a right to know that the next chapter is the last one unless I decide to do an epilogue. I don't know yet. But most likely, there will be one more chapter left. And review for me, please? It will make the Catty very happy.**


	15. Hunting The Fallen

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Keylie** for being the first to update to the last chapter. I would like to give special thanks to **Mrs. Nikki Slater** for reviewing to every chapter. And again, I'm sorry for the long wait. Also, the next chapter is going to be the last. And wow, I got a flame this time. Imagine that?**

Keylie**: You'll have to read to find out.**

Little Miss Nobody**: Thanks so much. And I don't even know what's going to happen next, so you'll be just as surprised as I am.**

Anywien**; Sorry it took me so long, I feel bad about it.**

Mrs. Nikki Slater**: Thank so much for the review.**

maliaphire**: I know that answer to that, but I'm not going to tell.**

scarykitten**: I'm glad you liked it.**

CosMOpOlotINmAgIc**: Yes, everything is sad. But this story was not meant to be happy at all.**

iluvmybeagle**: You should post some of your stuff up, I would love to read them.**

'they say the world is round'**: Yeah, I was trying to think of ways to make it longer, but I couldn't. I could of sent it to the bets I had from my other story, but she stopped responding.**

seawitch**: Thanks so much for the review. It made me smile.**

Smiley0925**: Listen, I'm trying my best here. And I'm asking a lot from you as my reader to read it each time I post whether it was one week or one month since my last update. And I'm not "waiting" to update, I've just been too busy to write it. And I don't know if you've _talked_ to everyone who reads stories to know if they lose interest and forget about them, because I'm not one of them myself. So please, don't flame.**

Mediatorgrrrl**: Actually, when you reviewed, I was about half done with the chapter. I'm really sorry it's taken me so long, I've had to fight writer's block a few times. And of course, I wrote about half of it, but computer started acting all weird and I lost it all I tried to rewrite it, but I don't think it came out as good as the first time.**

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**Someday**

_Hunting The Fallen_

We made good time on the way to the hospital. Considering that everyone was sleeping in, I mean. In this part of Indiana, the whole town is closed down the day of and after the celebration. Actually, any celebration in general.

Nina didn't really understand why I needed to see Rob in order to find Kat. I would have told her everything right then, but I couldn't. I couldn't tell her about the gunshot and the person who tried to shoot my daughter. I couldn't tell by _best friend_ that I recognized the person who shot Rob. I couldn't…and for that, I'm a wimp. A pathetic, useless, wimp.

The nurses at the front desk wouldn't let us up the elevator. They said that only family of the patients could go up. I _tried_, okay? I _tried_ to explain that I was related, but they didn't believe me, so I resorted to drastic measures. I pulled out my badge. Don't you just love the government?

Anyway, they had no choice but to let us up then. I was actually nice and knocked on the door before I went in. Normally, I'll just go straight into a room without thinking about the consequences, I should have learned my lesson way back then.

The first thing I heard when I opened the door was a lady saying, "You? Get out of here! We don't want you here."

"Hi, Rob. And his wife." I walked into the room and stood in a spot where I could keep both of them in my eyesight.

"Jess, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Rob looked me over. Even though he has a wife. Yeah, the same one who was right next to him.

Rolled my eyes and said, "I need your help, Kat's missing."

Rob frowned, "She _did_ ran off last night, did you ever think that she didn't want to be found?"

I slapped him. And his wife didn't seem to like that. At all. I clicked off the safety on my gun and pointed at the wife, "Listen to me, I don't like you. I wouldn't care right now if you and your bastard husband died. All I want is my daughter. To get her I need your husband's help, so, if you don't want a bullet lodged in your brain, I suggest you let him help me."

I was so caught up in what I was saying I hadn't even noticed Rob try to stand up, or Nina actually help him and held her arm around his waist to hold him as he struggled to walk over to us. Now, don't ask me how he hurt his legs. The last I knew, he had hurt his _shoulder_, not his legs. He put his hand on my wrist and lowered it to the point where it wasn't in the way of making his wife look like a pincushion. "Jess, leave my wife alone. I'll help you find her. She's my daughter, too."

I looked intently at the red handprint on his cheek before I looked into his eyes and said venomously, "If you _ever_ say that again, I swear you'll be wishing I castrate you."

Nina decided to intercept before it got too out of hand. "Jay, I think we should get a list of suspects. _Don't you think?_"

"Nina, I already know who took her. I just don't know where they took her."

Rob looked at me like I had two heads, "So, you know who took Kat, you even know why, but you need _my_ help to find them?"

"That's about right." Hell, maybe I was crazy coming back to Indiana for Kat anyway. Maybe I should have said no or something. It would have made this a hell of a lot easier.

Nina looked upset that I hadn't told her, "Who took her?"

"Maggie."

I could tell that she was trying to think of who Maggie was. But it wasn't coming to her. I couldn't blame her, it took me a while to get it too. "Do you remember that case we were assigned to the last time we were in Indiana? The one with the psychic who could control people's minds?"

"Now that you mention it…yeah I do. So your saying she kidnapped Kat? But why?"

"As I said, it took me a while to get it, but do you remember when you shot her?"

She contemplated for a second before she said, "Yeah, I shot her in the leg. Her right thigh if I remember correctly."

"Well, there was someone who tried to shot Kat at the fireworks last night. A person far away, but was limping on their right leg when they were running away."

"So, what you're telling me is that this Maggie lady kidnapped Kat to get back at you for bringing down her stealing business?" She looked at me apprehensively. It was kind of hard to believe.

Rob, who had been silent as I was talking to Nina, said, "She tried to kill Kat, but because I took the bullet for her, _Maggie_ couldn't kill Kat. So when Kat ran off, she decided to kidnap her, probably deciding it was better than killing Kat off the bat because it would make Jess suffer more."

"Correct."

Nina's phone went off the next second when the silence had settled between the four of us. She looked at the caller-ID and answered the phone with a smile on her face, "De Silva. Hey baby, what's up? Okay, put them on. Hey sweeties, be good for your Papa and I'll be home in a few days, okay? I miss you guys too. Love you babies. Goodnight. I love you too Jesse." She hung up the phone and said to us, "Sorry, my kids wanted to say goodnight before they went to sleep."

"You mean they wanted another reason to stay awake?" We both laughed knowing it was true. Those three can be menaces, I swear.

Rob's nameless wife said impatiently, "What do you need Robbie for?"

Wow, Rob_bie_, not even his own mother called him that. I even saw the slight tweak of his jaw as he said it. I can't even believe that he _married_ her!

"The thing is that_ Robbie_ here knows where Maggie is hiding, don't you?"

"Don't call me that Jess, and you know I don't." He'll get mad at me for saying it, _me_, the love of his life, but he won't get mad at his wife. That's so unfair. Of course, the love of his life part is probably an over exageration. Rob obviously doesn't love me all that much anymore.

Nina smiled slightly and said, "But you know her alias, right Jay?"

I nodded and said, "She goes by Sammie-Rae here in town."

His eyes widened and he stuttered out, "S-She lives over on the other side of town. Are you saying that Sammie-Rae kidnapped my daughter?"

I glared at him. Kat was only his daughter biologically, besides that, there was no connection between the two. I didn't even bother answering, "We have to go. I hope you feel better _Robbie_. Bye wifey-poo." I was laughing all the way out of the hospital.

We drove over to the house that _Robbie_ told us to go to. All the lights were out and it almost looked like there was nobody in the house, the car in the driveway was a dead give away though. Stupid people trying to kidnap kids and hide them in their house, _with their car in the freaking driveway_!

Both Nina and I drew our guns and switched off the safety before kicking the door in. In movies, only the guys bust down the doors. It's almost like the girls are too weak to do it. I mean, I can bench press 100 pounds, I'm not weak. I can kick in a door as good as any guy on the force. Movies seriously degrade women, I swear.

We went through all the rooms on the first floor and saw that there was no one there. We couldn't hear anything at all. You would think they would make some kind of noise, right? Anyway, we headed upstairs as quietly as we could. The only noise we heard was those damn creaking floorboards. And man, I hate those things.

We opened the door to the first room silently. I peeked in first and saw Kat tied to the bedposts. She didn't look bad for being kidnapped, believe me, I've seen much worse. But seeing my daughter tied up like that triggered an explosive chain if fury wanting to be released on one single person. We saw that person the second the door opened fully. Yeah, she was hiding behind the door of the room. Talk about being stupid.

"Hello, Maggie. I believe you have something that's mine."

"Hello, Lightning Girl, I believe you took away something that was mine a while back."

I rolled my eyes. Out of the corner of my peripheral vision, I saw Maggie draw a gun. Before I had really known what happened, Nina shot her, again. This time, it was through the head. I ran over to Kat and untied the cords binding her.

"Mom! I'm so sorry; I promise I'll never run off again. I love you so much…"

She was about to go on, but I shushed her and put a finger on her lips. "It's all right, sweetie. As long as you're all right?"

She nodded and tried to look over my shoulder at Nina and the lady who had kidnapped her, but I stepped in front of her view. "Mom, can we go back home now?"

"My thoughts exactly." We rose and left Indiana behind.

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**A.N.: Okay, only the epilogue left. I hope you all liked that. If you wanted it to be longer, I'm sorry, but it is not so. I would have, honest, but it's almost one a.m. now, and I'm really tired. Now can you guys all do me a favor and review for me, please? I'll give you chocolate.**


	16. Epilogue

**A.N.: This chapter is dedicated to **Kyou's Kitten** for being the first to review last chapter. I would like to give special thanks to **Mrs. Wilkins de-silva** for reviewing to every chapter.**

Kyou's Kitten**: The chocolate was yours for the taking if you reviewed, which you did, so enjoy.**

Mrs. Wilkins de-silva**: I think I've mentioned in the past that no, Rob will not be leaving his wife.**

Frolicking Bananas**: What's the fun in the fic if the couples are always together? It can get really boring really quickly.**

Mediatorgrrl**: Lol. Actually, a lot of my reviewers hate the fact that Rob is married to another woman and they're not going to be breaking up soon. But it's a fact of the story, I like it, and I'm not about to change it.**

maliaphire**: Yes, this is the last chapter. And no, I don't think I'm doing a sequel to this.**

scarykitten**: Well, he's not going to, but I hope you enjoy the epilogue.**

Anywien**: I know! It's really hard to update with school, clubs for school, work, _and_ my boyfriend. It can take a lot of my time away from writing. But I swear I _do_ write whenever I get the chance.**

Leah**: Thanks so much for the review.**

Smiley0925**: Thanks so much, and I hope you like the epilogue.**

Ria le Fay**: Well, I really don't want Rob and his wife to break up. And this is my story, therefore, what the author says goes. And I hope you enjoy reading the last chapter of this story.**

IluvMegCabot!**: You're exactly right. Jess didn't want Rob to call Kat _his_ daughter because he had fifteen years to come and find her if he loved her so much, and he didn't. It doesn't matter that she had his daughter, she wanted him to come to her because he loved her, and all he did was act depressed and say he loved her.**

CeeCeeCaffeine**: Thanks so much for reviewing.**

iluvmybeagle**: Well, it's not over yet. I have a feeling the epilogue will be a big surprise for everyone. And you should post, even if the idea might not _seem_ like a good idea at first, you can mold it into something that can work for you. And it doesn't really matter that other people might not like it, as long as you like it.**

Nikita1506**: Thanks so much for the awesome review.**

craZhead191**: Well, sorry to disappoint you, but it's just ending.**

**

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**

**Someday**

**_Epilogue_**

_-One Year Later-_

It's been almost a year since we left Indiana. What I mean is, it's been almost a year since Kat really met her father, was kidnapped, and almost died. Kat and I haven't been closer since we got back. Before, she could tell me practically everything, but she still had her own secrets. Now, she can tell me anything. It's an awesome feeling. Especially since I wasn't like that with my own mother, I try to be the best for her.

Anyway, today is Kat's sixteenth birthday. Yes, the Sweet Sixteen. The big age where you can get your license and a job. I had been planning a party for her for a while now.

It's actually a surprise party. I got some help from her friends at school as well as Nina and some other random people. We're having it in our house and I bought a huge cake and lots of ice cream to go along with it. Her best friend, Layla, is keeping her company until we're ready, at which point, I call Kat's cell phone and tell her that she has to come home. The funny part is that I gave her the presents from me this morning before she left for school, so she has no idea this is happening.

I've been working on the house all day and Kat gets out of school at two. The party itself is starting at three. I just called Kat to tell her to come home. Before the fiasco, she probably would have argued with me saying she wanted to stay out with her friends, but Kat seems to obey me more now. And about her ex-boyfriend: when e got back home, he had come over and _begged_ Kat to take him back, saying he was sorry and he hadn't meant anything that he had said. Of course, she looked like she was about to yield, but she thought about it for a minute and told him to go to hell. And for that, I was _extremely _proud of her.

Kat entered the house with Layla in her stead. And she started crying the second the door opened. I went over to her and gave her a huge hug and said, "What's the matter sweetie?"

She looked up at me with her tearstained face and said, "Nothing, I just love being surrounded by all the people that I love the most." She wiped her eyes and kneeled down to catch Nina's kids that ran right into her arms.

Nina came over to me and said, "Anything wrong?"

I shook my head and said, "No, everything's perfect."

Kat was so excited. She had so much fun talking to everyone and eating the cake and ice cream. When it came time to opening presents, I thought I was going to burst just because she was being so energetic. When everyone was sitting down, I took some pictures. Kat was sitting on Jesse's lap opening all of the presents from her friends. I would say family was there too considering I do think of Nina and Jesse as my family, but my biological family wasn't present. Actually, I haven't even talked to them in a while. It's been about a year to tell you the truth. Yeah, I haven't spoken to them since we left Indiana. Every time I pick up the phone to dial the number, I just…can't. It's really weird.

But, back to the point. Kat was opening all her presents. I still say mine was the best, I got her a car. I know, she can't drive it yet, but she'll be able to eventually. Everyone else got her CDs and clothes. So yes, I would say mine's the best.

I was so lost in thought that I was only randomly taking pictures. But then the doorbell rang. I really did wonder who it was, you know, considering every one I knew was already here. But when I opened that door I had the shock of a lifetime. It was Rob. _My _Rob. Kat's father Rob. I just gasped and stared in shock.

"Hey, Jess. I came to see Kat, if she's home that is…" He looked around my shoulder and saw all the decorations around the place and said, "Is there a party going on that I don't know about?"

I was still staring at him. He hadn't changed much at all. Well, he did get a few laugh lines around his mouth and eyes, but everything else about him was the same. The exact same Rob. Kat had evidently noticed that I had been gone for a while and came to the front door with one of the corny party hats on her head, "Mom? What's the matter? You've been gone for a while and I was still in the middle of opening my pres…" She broke off when she saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Kat. So, I guess this party is for you?" He was bouncing on his heels and ran one of his hands through his hair, the first two signs of extreme nervousness.

She whispered in a scared way, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. It took a lot of wrangling from Doug to figure out where you lived, otherwise I would have been here sooner."

She said contemptuously, "Where's your _wife_?"

"She's still in Indiana. I came alone, I swear." He held up his hand in mock defeat.

She hesitated but said slowly, "Mom, let him in. He can at least attend one of my birthday parties before he leaves us alone." He looked a little hurt at that, but all I did was stand aside and hold the door open for him to come in.

Jesse came out with Tomás in his arms. Tomás was actually turning four in a few months. He's so cute. Jesse stood there with his he-macho attitude and said, "What's going on here?"

Kat said a little too happily, "My father decided to pay us a visit."

Jesse stared at Rob with anger evident his posture and eyes. He glared at Rob before he said, "I'll let you stay, but if you think about hurting either one of them, I swear you will never _want_ to come here again." Rob glared back, but he said nothing and eventually nodded after a little hesitation.

Kat went back to her friends and tried to have a good time. I just tried to stay away from Rob as much as possible. I hadn't said a word to him yet, and I definitely wasn't planning on it. But of course, he had different plans. He trapped me in a corner when I was going to get a drink and said, "We need to talk…" He paused a second before he said, "I want joint custody of Kat. She can stay here with you and go to school, but during school holidays and recesses, I want her to come down to Indiana."

By the time he finished what he was saying, I had tears leaking out of my eyes. I was actually about to nod my consent before Nina and Kat came over. Nina said, "How can you do that when Kat doesn't want to go back to Indiana?"

"Why should that matter, she's my daughter?"

Nina, who had been standing behind Nina, came right up in front of Rob. It would have actually been funny under a different circumstance, you know, because she was so small and he was just so tall. "Listen to me now, I love my mother, more than you could ever comprehend, but I _did_ try to go to Indiana. I hurt my mother more than you could ever imagine by wanting to go down there to meet you. And now you think that I would do that again! There is no way in hell I will ever go back to Indiana. Now, I want you to go! Pretend you never had a daughter! Pretend you never knew my mother! Just get out of our lives!" She stormed off toward Layla. Nina looked at me sympathetically and Rob, well, he just looked hurt.

"Okay, I think I get it now, I'll just go, you won't have to hear from me ever again." Then he left. And I felt a weird sensation run through me. All this time, sixteen years, I've been caught up about a guy who I thought loved me. But, he never really loved me, he had never loved me. I know what love is now, and all I need is Kat. She's my world, my life, and I wouldn't do anything to change that.

**THE END**

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**A.N.: So, how did you guys like the ending? And no, there will be no sequel, so don't ask.**

MY THANK YOU'S:

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